My son and I cruised downtown (Bend, Oregon) last weekend to grab a bite to eat after our bike ride. It was was a great day, sunny, clear skies, a perfect day to sit outside for lunch at our favorite pizza place downtown.

When we arrived we noticed a note on the front door. It stated they were closed for the day – updating the floors. We were bummed. Where were we going to go for a couple of slices of pizza downtown? We started thinking of alternatives. Hmm, good pizza, downtown, reasonably priced, outdoor seating… We couldn’t think of anyplace for a while, and then my son figured it out! Not a pizza place, but they had mini pizzas that were pretty good, outdoor seating and soda. We were on our way.

We get there, request a seat outside (it was an awesome day), sit down, place our orders and enjoy the wait before our mini pizzas and drinks arrive. It was a good day, and this lunch was kind of a pre-celebratory lunch, my son was going to be 10 in the coming week, so we talked about the joys of being in the double digit age realm. It was cute to still see him using the straw. He had this massive tumbler filled with Root Beer and ice cubes, while I had a smaller glass brimming with iced tea and lemon wedge (fancy).

Time melted away and our pizzas came! Woo Hoo, man did they look good, and they tasted great! There was one difference though, and it was brought to my attention by my son – my pizza had “green things” sprinkled on it, but other than that, they were pretty much identical – same size, same topping, same amount of slices, but mine had finely chopped up “green things” and they were tasty too.

So we ate, laughed, and remarked how this pizza, even though different from our favorite place, was still pretty tasty and gave it the thumbs up. We finished and asked for the check.

So we get the check, and we look at it and then look at each other puzzled, my pizza cost $6.50 more! OK, we pretty much had the same lunch – drink and a pizza, so you’d think it would have been a perfect “split check” scenario (not that I was going to make him pay, it was my treat).
My son comments “I hope that green stuff was tasty!”. We both started laughing. It was tasty, but by no means $6.50 more tasty. Holy smokes we couldn’t believe it. But hey, we were downtown in a fancy place. There ya go.

So, the cool thing was my son recognized growing up isn’t all that. Especially if it means his favorite food (pizza) is going to cut into his wallet once he no longer can pull off the “kid” thing.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gimiDBAK2wA&hl=en]