There’s a building on Jefferson Street I pass by all the time on my way to work that I really like. It looks like a classic old school downtown Peoria building. I don’t know if it’s got landmark status or not, but the other day I slowed down and saw that it’s a law office called, Quinn - Johnston Law Office. I thought it would be a good place to go and see if they’d let me eat lunch in there and maybe get a little tour of the building afterwards. I haven’t tried to do this can I eat my lunch thing in a law office yet, so let’s go and see what happens when I try to eat my lunch in the Quinn - Johnston Law Office!
Here we go off on another awkward edition of, “Can I Eat My Lunch In Here.” I always get really nervous before doing one of these. It’s always super-awkward in the beginning and really uncomfortable. But so far, it’s always been a lot of fun when it’s all over. It’s kind of like banging your head against a cold, cement wall because it feels so good when you finally stop. Weird, I know, but this is my life!
I thought we’d go get lunch at B Easy on Main Street, it’s close by and they always have a unique special of the day. Let’s park and see what the special du jour is over there.
Here we are, now what’s the special of the day today?
Oh look, it’s a Garlic Cheddar Pretzel Dog! That sounds very unhealthy and quite delicious! Perfect!
You order over there at the window, so let’s go and order up lunch!
Mih Chelle is taking orders at the window and she's looking really pretty. This picture doesn’t do her hair justice, it’s streaked with different colors and it’s really beautiful!
Okay, the order has been taken and the butterflies are growing in my stomach knowing that soon I’ll be in a really awkward moment asking someone if I can eat my lunch in their office. I’m really curious as to how this will go down in a law office. I have a feeling it’ll either be really good or really bad. We’ll see!
While I was waiting I met Mark, who washes dishes here at night. B Easy is open for lunch from 11:30AM to 1:30PM and then they close and open back up from 9:00PM to 5:00AM serving up sandwiches and treats to the late night crowd here on Main Street.
Okay, I got my lunch and now we’re on our way to the Quinn - Johnston Law Office. I’m starting to feel a little sick now, this is always so uncomfortable to do, but it must be done. So onward we go!
There’s the building, nice isn’t it? I’m hoping to get a tour of it after lunch, if it happens in here.
Signpost ahead: Quinn - Johnston Law Office. There’s other names there too, but I’m too lazy to type them in. What are you going to do?
Okay, just about moment of truth time, I wonder if they’ll let me eat my lunch in here? My stomach is knotting up as I approach the door.
I followed that sign up to the receptionist area and had quite an uneasy talk with the receptionist behind the desk in the lobby there. She was a petite, brown-haired woman and had a lot of trouble grasping the concept of the “Can I Eat My Lunch In Here,” bit. I told her about the MBIP blog, explained that occasionally I get lunch and take it to a local business to see if I can eat it in their lunchroom and that’s what I wanted to do at the Quinn - Johnston Law Office. I even went so far as to say that I thought they probably had a really fancy-schmancy lunchroom and I’d really like to eat my lunch in there. After this somewhat long and lengthy explanation she looked puzzled, somewhat uncomfortable and said, “I’m not quite sure I understand what you want to do in here.” It went downhill from there.
I explained to her again that I just wanted to eat my lunch in there and she said she’d have to get permission from someone and that person was out to lunch and she didn’t think this could happen today. I told her I could wait for this person to come back and she said that there was meetings going on all afternoon and that she wouldn’t be able to ask anyone. There were people walking around the office so I asked if she could just ask one of them and she said no. This was the most awkward “Can I Eat My Lunch In Here,” time ever and very uncomfortable and I probably should’ve just left, but I just kept standing there and the tension was really at a high level. Finally I asked her if I could just eat my lunch in the reception area and she responded with, “I don’t want to get into trouble here!” I didn’t want to make her cry, so I thanked her and headed towards the door, somewhat dejected.
Time to take a walk of shame out the door. The first time we’ve been 86’d from a building in the history of “Can I Eat My Lunch In Here.” A pretty sad moment indeed!
Hmm, what’s that over there?
The Enterprise...hey, maybe Captain Kirk’s in there!
As I was taking pictures, this gentleman opened the door and invited me in! Maybe things are turning around all of a sudden! Let’s go in and see if we can eat lunch in here!
This is Rob, who’s the Branch Manager here and a real friendly guy. I explained the, “Can I Eat My Lunch In Here,” concept to him and he said I was more than welcome to eat my lunch in there. Yes! Looks like we’ll pull this off after all!
Greg, Sean and Jeff also work here and they were all very friendly and welcoming! Very nice after the chilly reception at Quinn - Johnston Law Offices next door!
Rob explained that they don’t have a lunch room, but they eat at this communal desk over here and he even cleaned it up for me! I love it in here!
Houston, we have a place to eat our lunch in! Whoops...wrong Houston...oh well, you catch my drift. Time to eat, I’m starvin’ like you know over here and anxious to try out the cheddar pretzel dog from B Easy.
Here’s a bird’s-eye-view of lunch at the communal desk at Enterprise Rent-A-Car. In addition to the pretzel dog, I got Lay’s barbecue potato chips and a bottle of water. And there’s some mustard packets over there to the left. It’s generic, yellow mustard, but what the hell, we’ll just roll with the flow.
Here’s the pretzel dog with some of that aforementioned mustard schmeared on it. As I said before, probably not the most healthy lunch in the world, but it sure looks good! Time for man to bite dog!
Rob took a shot of me devouring the dog at the communal lunch desk.
This is crazy-good! The pretzel bun is warm, salty and soft and the combination of the hot dog, rich and creamy melted cheddar cheese and mustard is drippy and delicious!
After I ate my lunch I noticed a Panda Fortune Cookie on the desk and asked Rob if I could have it for dessert and he said, “sure.” I love eating lunch in here!
Let’s open it up and see what our fortune is!
Hmm...“A distant romance could begin to look more promising.” I thought about that and really the only on-going long distance relationship I have going on is with my friend Lisa in Champaign, Illinois. I wouldn’t exactly classify it as a romantic relationship, but we have become really good friends again and we text or talk just about every day, and we do love each other, so who knows? And it’s a long story, but technically we have been engaged for the last 22 years! So how about it Lisa, is it time for us to finally take that long walk down the aisle? Maybe we could have an awkward lunch afterwards! What do you say? That sound you hear is probably Lisa throwing up over in Champaign! I’ll talk to you later, Lisa and we’ll see you all tomorrow! And big thanks to Rob and everyone at Enterprise Rent-A-Car for saving this edition of, “Can I Eat My Lunch In Here!”
B Easy
617 Main St
Peoria
309-256-7512
Enterprise Rent-A-Car
203 NE Jefferson Street
Peoria
309-676-5800
Related Posts: Can I Eat My Lunch In Here @ The YMCA, Sherman’s and Notre Dame High School Faculty Lounge.