In Which I Buy Some Bubble Tea and Realize That I Am Old

Friday evening, after dropping Gabriel and Lana off with my aunt, Husband and I went to Ann Arbor for dinner. (Gabe and Lana were spending the weekend with my aunt so that Husband and I could spend most of Saturday sailing with some friends on Lake Erie.*)

We had some yummy Japanese food, and as we were leaving the restaurant, I noticed a shop called, "Bubble Island" across the street.

I have been without a local supplier of bubble tea since the lone Vietnamese restaurant in our city closed down a few months ago, so I was extremely pleased to see that bubble tea was in my very near future.

I dragged Husband over to the Bubble Island shop, and hurried inside, and spent some time considering the various Bubble Tea options available to me at Bubble Island.

I was still wearing my work clothes - a long black and white sleeveless dress that was cool enough for the hot day, but still dressy enough to wear to court.**

After I placed my order, it dawned on me that I was CLEARLY not the target demographic for Bubble Island.

I was - **GASP** - old enough to be the mother of EVERY OTHER PERSON in the shop, including the guys working at the counter. (Well, old enough to be their mother if I had had a baby right out of high school, which of course, I didn't, but if I had, that child would be the age of all the other people in Bubble Island.)

I felt old. I felt...slightly silly. As if, perhaps, the joy of bubble tea was something I should have grown out of sometime circa 1994. (Of course, I didn't KNOW about bubble tea in 1994, and if I had known about bubble tea in 1994, I would have balked at paying $3.95 for a drink that didn't have any gin in it.) (Oh hell, let's be honest - circa 1994 I would have balked at paying $3.95 for a drink that HAD gin in it. I was a poor college student. $2 Well Drinks were a big thing for me.)

I took my honeydew flavored black milk tea with colored pearls "to go" and walked towards the car. It was delicious.

I'm just surprised, I think, at how far removed I felt from the other patrons. When I think about college, it doesn't seem that long ago. When I spend time with my college Girlfriends (which isn't as often as I'd like, but at least several times a year) - I almost feel like it was yesterday.

Bubble Island reminded me that it really was fifteen years ago. Fifteen years that has put more pounds on my frame and a few lines on my face, and a wardrobe that is clearly, clearly not that of a college student.

That bubble tea, though...that was still delicious. And I think I may have figured out how to make bubble tea at home, so at least I have a source that is closer away than Ann Arbor, and less likely to make me feel like I am trespassing on the domain of undergraduates.

LM

* Which is not to say that Gabe and Lana wouldn't have enjoyed sailing on Lake Erie - it just wasn't a kid friendly event

** Some female attorneys do not feel sleeveless dresses are appropriate for court. I respect that opinion. There are some judges' courtrooms into which I wouldn't wear a sleeveless dress. However, generally speaking, I do wear a lot of sleeveless blouses or dresses during the summer, and I think this is one of the few advantages female attorneys have over male attorneys. When it's 85 degrees in the hallway at municipal court, at least I don't have to wear a tie.