Another Way to Entertain

Rachel called the other day, saying something that I couldn’t quite understand. Rachel is an Indian friend, and sometimes I have difficulty understanding her accent on the phone. I’ll admit that I’m hard of hearing, but even my caption phone has the same problem. I tried to get her to repeat herself, but finally, I had to admit that I didn’t understand.

Later that afternoon, a mutual friend called to tell me that Rachel had stopped at her house and left a lot of food. She asked if I’d like to join her for supper and enjoy some too. I hesitated because I hadn’t been eating in anybody else’s house during this pandemic. But when I wasn’t thrilled with what I found in my refrigerator, I agreed.

It gets dark early, and I don’t drive in the dark anymore. Since my friend lives close by, I thought I could make it with no trouble. However, when I opened the garage door and realized how dark and cold it was outside, I changed my mind. And it was snowing—the beginning of an unpredictable snowstorm. So I called her back and took a “raincheck” on the invitation.

A Kind Gesture

The next day our friend stopped at my house with at least five containers of Rachel’s Indian food, enough for several meals.

Rachel loves to cook, and she also likes to entertain. Every so often, she’ll invite as many friends as her dining room table will seat for “lunch” (I call it more than a lunch). I called her to apologize for not understanding what she had been trying to tell me, but let her know that her meal was shared with me, and I had just finished eating some of her food for supper.

Rachel told me that she wanted to have us come for lunch, but since we can’t do that now, she cooked it up and delivered it to her friends.

What a thoughtful way of “entertaining” during these COVID times.

Marion Tickner writes from New York.