Bena Mae’s Kitchen; Stall Tales

Stall Tales

Cell phones are a boon and a bane to our modern society. While they can help folks in many ways, keeping in touch with one another, coming to the rescue with stranded motorists, there are also many ways they can become an aggravation and impose themselves upon our privacy. I have one but I only use it sparingly in deference to other people’s ears.

Picture yourself walking along and minding your own business and you hear, “Hello, how are you?”

Thinking it is a greeting for you, you answer, “Just fine.”

Then you realize the person talking is on a cell phone talking to someone on the other end. And it leaves you embarrassed and feeling like a moron. But the moron is the person talking on the cell phone who has no respect for your private space. And he or she is talking decibels above a normal tone of voice. It has happened to me many times and I’m sure it has happened to you.

I cite for example the following story that has been around for awhile. The writer tells of her extreme embarrassment when encountered by one of these creeps in a restroom stall whom she doesn’t know or has ever met. The writer goes on to say:
“I was traveling back to my hometown and responding to Mother Nature decided to stop at one of those rest areas on the side of the road. I went into the washroom and the first stall was taken so I went into the second stall. I had just sat down when I heard a voice from the other stall.

“Hi there, how’s it going?”

I am not the type to strike up conversations with strangers while sitting on the john in restrooms so I didn’t know what to do. But finally I said, “Not bad.” Then the voice said, “So what are you doing?”

At this point I was finding the situation a little weird but I said, “Well I’m heading back east.”

Then I heard the person, all flustered, say “Look, I’ll call you back Every time I ask you a question, the moron in the next stall answers me.”

Now who is the moron here? The writer was only trying to be courteous.

Now this from humorist Dave Barry who writes and with whom I agree whole heartedly:

“A study by researchers at the University of Utah proves what people have long suspected. Everybody talking on a cell phone, except you, is a moron.”

This makes me hungry just thinking about it.
 

TATER TOT CASSEROLE

Ingredients
1 lb. ground chuck
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 (10.75-ounce) can cream of
    mushroom soup
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
3 – 4 cups of frozen onion tater tots

Instructions
Brown meat and onion together. Drain off fat.
Add ketchup, Worcestershire, garlic salt and paprika. Spoon into a greased 12×8 inch shallow casserole dish. Spread undiluted soup over beef mixture. Top with cheddar cheese.
Cover top of mixture with tater tots.
Bake at 375 for 30 minutes or until tater tots are done and browned.
Serves: 5 to 6