The BB cafe

[Kazzl]

The BB cafe is open for business!
Welcome all to a new chill and chat place for everyone on the forum.

The BB cafe is whatever you want it to be. There are comfy sofas, tables and chairs, coffee machines, a kitchen stocked with everything. There's a pool outside, a bbq area, an annexe with comfy beds for a quiet sleep, tv, dvd, books and whatever else you would like to have here.

Most of all, it's a place to meet friends and fellow travellers for a bit of company. Talk over problems, tell jokes, share your day, escape into a world of your making. Grab a coffee and pull up a chair ... 

So, with a nod to the wonderful Carole King (Hard Rock Cafe) ...

Now if you're feeling just a little bit lonely
Don't sit at home just mopin'
Come on down to where the friendship flows freely
You know the door is always open

At the BB cafe
Come to the BB cafe
They will help keep your blues at bay
At the BB cafe

Important Message from ModSupport: 
The main intention of the BB Cafe is to encourage light conversation. Please look after your fellow community members by nuturing the BB Cafe as a place to escape some of the more pressing issues in life and save those conversations for personal threads. 

[Moonstruck]

Years ago when I used to visit the BB Cafe, there was always delicious food around. any sushi there today? I have decided I simply love sushi. I love the Sushi Trains, but there is only one in my town...in the middle of a shopping mall with big glass windows and all these people, shoppers etc walking past. I look at the folk inside with envy, just wishing I was brave enough to go in....but I am not. I am too scared. Scared someone walking past will see me and say "Oh look who's there...poor thing, she has no one to even have lunch with...how sad, how pathetic to see a lonely old woman eating sushi all alone"....so I am left with the take away sushi place near me, which is delicious . I can get my sushi and run away home with it.

anyway thats my BB Cafe visit for today. There seems to have been a change on this thread over the years I've been away.....all sorts of subjects seem to be discussed.....isn't it interesting how certain threads take on new topics as time goes by....there's another couple of threads I could mention that have gone completely off topic too....oh well I guess as they serve a purpose, that's OK with everyone!!........let me know when Cafe has some Sushi in there.......cheers to all. { it goes well with champagne)

[monkey_magic]

Hi Croix- that would be the dream to get another 4wd.

Moonstruck I doubt anyone would be looking at the lady eating sushi by herself ...go in and enjoy yourself dear lady.

[Leisa68]

Hi all,

Moonstruck you should definitely go in and have your sushi, you will enjoy it so much, that you won't notice other people. Sometimes I like to eat alone when going out, there is no one to judge what you are eating!

mmMekitty I will let them know. The last surgery I had I came out of it yelling and totally panicked. The poor male nurse got such a fright! Being out for a few hours brings back all sorts of trauma for me. Last time the nurses were wonderful to me and the doctors so I should be okay. The food is horrific though. I'll have to get Uber Eats to come to the cafe for me and bring me some lasagne or a sausage roll. We have a place for Uber Eats, don't we? Today I am preparing Cob Loaf with cheese sauce and some parsley in the middle. Good food for this time of year. Oh, and some sushi for Moonstruck. Sushi is very popular nowadays.

Leisa68

[mmMekitty]

Hello everyone!

There is always 🍣sushi! I grow a perennial varieties out near the chook house.

We got so much variety, I'm surprised no one has mentioned the thickness of the concertina menu.

I sympathise with you, Moonstruck, & anyone else who has had the kinds of thoughts & feelings about eating in public, especially alone, where you think everyone can see & scrutinise & judge all sorts of things about you based on NOTHING they actually know.

There are ways of dealing with this sort of anxiety, ways of challenging what we think others are thinking about us, in particular. I know one fun trick, when going in on your own, getting what you want take-away, no one can know if you are eating it yourself or getting it for someone else. None of those people are mind readers.

For me, when I realise:

1: I don't know what they are thinking.

2: I don't really care - because what are these people to me? Why should I care?

3: I can't see (literally) who people are looking at, nor what their expressions on their faces might be. So what about that? As much as I might think they are looking at me, judging me, they could equally NOT be doing that. & Refer back to #1 & #2

4: So I eat messily now. Refer back to #1, #2 & #3.

5: I bought this food with my own money, so I'm jolly well going to enjoy eating it in whatever way I can manage! If they don't like that, they are free to not look, or go away, too.

& #: My method isn't perfect, & I still think people somehow think how messily I eat is an insult to them, & (as when I was a child, & my (ex-)step-,mother taking offense, I feel ashamed & embarrassed & that I shouldn't be there, in public, as per what she would say...& that gets me grumpy & stubborn, so I stay now.

What would happen if you went with someone, but they wait nearby, while you go in & order? You could really be ordering for your friend. If you think people are watching that closely, why not try this idea? You'd get your 🍣sushi. 😺

I wonder, are you interested in watching other people, yourself? Do their lunchtime interest you at all? I, for one, know if I had any interest at all, it was very short, ten seconds at most.

What's your favourite sushi?

My favourite sushi is salmon, cream cheese & cucumber, no wasabi, horseradish, not even the salty soy or salty teriyaki sauce.

Warmly

mmMekitty

[monkey_magic]

My favourite sushi is tuna/ avocado...the salmon/ cream cheese/ cucumber is delicious as well.

[mmMekitty]

Hi Leisa,

I'm liking your new avatar/profile picture 😺even though I am not sure what it is a picture of...please, would you tell me about it?

*

When I had a big surgery early this year, I had a bad reaction to something in the anaesthetic. & even before, when they went to put a mask on me, I began to push them away. Fortunately, I'd already had some sort of injection, & was out to it in moments. In future I will need to mentions these possibilities, too.

If you would like to talk more, please find my own thread, 'Introducing mmMekitty', in the Long Term Support ... section,😺

Or, my old thread,(haven't used much for many months) 'Unable to wear Face Mask due to PTSD & Panic reaction', in PTSD and Trauma section, where I had more discussion about the problem of not being able to wear a mask.

I imagine you'd like a ☕hot chocolate, an extra parka, a fluffy beanie & scarf, with labels saying "This is not a cat" just to be sure no one makes any unfortunate mistakes.

Warmly,

❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

mmMekitty

[Moonstruck]

I may not have explained myself clearly..it's not the take away food that is a problem...it's the sitting alone inside esp the sushi trainrestaurant which is clearly visible to those shoppers going by..I imagine who recognises me will feel Sorry for me dining all alone.."poor thing no one to have lunch with" type of thing.

A few new different type restaurants have opened up near me and I would like to try them out..I don't mind going by myself but...would I stand out like the proverbial sore thumb?' Actually i think i would enjoy being waited on, eating nice food at my leisure, perhaps reading a book as I eat, ...but is there some stigma about it in this country?

I believe women in Paris do it often..

[mmMekitty]

Hi Moonstruck.

I've gone out & eaten alone at cafés & even to proper restaurants - not since COVID, nor very expensive places, either, but on my own. I used to use the take-away at some cafés as a way of getting a feel for the place, becoming familiar with it, before going in & sitting at a table. It may take a few times before feeling comfortable, as if having been there a few times, I felt more like I belonged, & not that proverbial 'sore thumb'.

I'm not too concerned about cultural norms. If I was I couldn't do much of anything based on what some nosey parkers reckon is proper. If I want sushi or any other meal at a restaurant & it's open to the public, & takes walk-in customers, then, guess what?

I say, let them look! Let them think whatever they like! I think what I like, too. 😺

Even out with my helper, I might notice how she eats for a moment, might think , 'she eats so fast compared to me', (because I don't have some of my teeth anymore), but that will be about it, & I"m at the same table! So, I wonder, just what others are really thinking about me, either with my helper or when I am alone, & I think it'svanishingly little,& boring if I knew what it was.

Those #1 -#6 up there, I did when I was going to cafés., (restaurants later), if only for coffee & raisin toast. (Full-size meals & dessert came later, too).

IN other words, I think my strategy is useful for both take-away or dining there.

I hope my intention with what I rote is clearer, now, too. & that maybe something of it ishelpful.

Warmly,

mmMekitty

[geoff]

Hello Monkey_magic, having a car accident is awful and hope you are OK but it's a few days after when you might be feeling sore, so I hope you have reported this to TAC ( in Victoria).

Best wishes.

Geoff.

[Leisa68]

Hi mmeKitty,

I realized I needed an avatar and went on to Shuttleshock for an image. I'm a bit fond of birds at the moment and felt that this cute little guy was for me. Sorry so boring. I've got a lovely budgie at home called Johnny, and I talk to him all the time. The other half today went out and bought an exercise bike and there was an elderly gentleman there at Kmart with a wheelie walker and a live bird on his shoulder. The bird was well trained and talked a lot, wanting kisses and saying "girlies". So cute. I was using a scooter to get from shop to shop and the elderly gentleman asked me if that scooter was mine. He has two scooters and apparently, the bird loves the scooters. We have bought the bike home and it is in a million parts so wish me luck, I hate putting things together.

Might get some extra sushi in for everyone (I've written down the sushi people like). Might cook some potato soup today or pumpkin soup, and bring out the soup machine.

Leisa68