November 30, 2011

Writing Prompt: Description


In October we meet at the “O”, an on-campus restaurant of dubious cleanliness and another checkmark on her list of must-try Pittsburgh eateries, the same list I press on every out-of-towner I know. She’s from up north, just stopping in for a few years of grad school, but I’ve already coerced her into trying a sandwich piled with fries, coleslaw, and cheese, and divulged the secret ingredient of local salads.

Yes, it’s French fries. On everything. And though she seems like the healthy type—a vegetarian—with a much more refined palate than mine—that is, able to handle Indian food—she is open to giving a greasy basket of “O” fries a shot.

When we go to retrieve our food, the “O’s” high counter comes midway up to her shoulders. The main level is crowded, so in interest of hearing each of our quiet voices, we take our overflowing tray upstairs and find a seat by the window. We commiserate over classes between bites of ketchup-laden fries, and she talks about the courses she’s teaching, her boyfriend back home, and the challenges of owning a pit bull...

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