That's a free meal for you

I like my family. I'm close to them, and enjoy spending time with them.

So after moving away for college, spending the worst 365 days of my life in Indiana for my first job and then a 3-year stint in Beaver Dam, I've been extremely thankful that I've was able to find a job I enjoy 30 minutes down the highway from where I grew up. It makes it easy to get home for family functions and I don't really think twice about driving up to my parents' house on a whim over the weekend.

As a result? I see my Mom a lot. About once a week. More some weeks. Let's just say we have a very close mother-daughter relationship, something that's only grown stronger over the past few years I think.

But she was out of town this last weekend, so I didn't get a chance to see her. Yes, it wasn't a big deal. It's not like I was heartbroken because I couldn't see my Mom. But still. I'm a creature of habit, so going almost two weeks without seeing Mom? It's different for me.

And I'm pretty sure she feels the same way. Because tonight? Mom made the drive down to the City on the Water and we met for dinner. We weren't very creative. We ended up going to get the buffet at Pizza Hut. I'm not usually a buffet person, because I can't justify the price considering the small amount of food I eat. But it was busy there tonight. And the buffet would be much easier, and faster, to order than an actual order.

Turns out it was cheaper too.

Apparently the manger lady thought we had never been to a Pizza Hut buffet before. What? Where do you think we come from? The sticks? Maybe it was because I was concerned about the availability of plain pizza on the buffet. But Mom and I ate. We found plain pizza. Although I do admit, I was disappointed in the breadstick selection. Really. How do you manage to run out of breadsticks during the dinner rush hour?

But the waitress brought our bill. And we were finishing up. And then the manager lady came over to our table. Asked us how our dinner was. We said it was good. And then the manager lady paused, picked up our bill and said our dinner was on her.

What?

Mom and I were confused. We didn't complain. We said the service was good. Yet the manager lady was telling us our dinner was free? Is that even legal at a Pizza Hut? Apparently so. We actually felt a little weird, walking out of the restaurant without having to deal with a bill. And even though I normally don't tip at a buffet-type restaurant, I scoured through my purse, looking for a tip. Unfortunately I had just cleaned it out the other day, so all I had was $1.50. And we made it a point to thank the manager lady, again, when we left.

But still. It was weird. Free pizza at the Pizza Hut buffet. And we didn't even have to complain.

Guess I might go back there someday.