Soup Du Jour

After moving from rural America and never had been exposed to big city life before, our circle of friends began to change and expand. We had taken on a job as property managers in a luxury building that commanded high rents while my husband worked to get his own business established. The two buildings were on Ventura Blvd and filled with prominent personalities, choreographers, set designers, agents for athletes and actors, families of famous actors, models, musicians, and actors of sorts who came into their own fame later on in the mid 1990's due to their rise in popularity of certain situation comedies that will go nameless. There was another couple who had come from a small town in Tennessee. This couples husband had secured a high profile job in the music industry and she was a small town southern girl. She would later say that anything that crossed their yard when she was growing up was either shot at, ate, or married. Her husband survived two of the three. We made fast friends and got along famously. We were invited with this couple by another tenant to dine at the Beverly Hills Hotel that weekend. We were excited to attend as his guests at such a place that we would never have selected. When we arrived and the attendant seated us I noticed she looked as uncomfortable as I felt. The menu was printed without prices. Many of the words I could not pronounce. I really admired this new friend of mine because she took command and folded her menu and said 'Nothing for me except the Soup Du Jour and a Cesar salad please." I knew better than to try to pronounce the menu selection so I just casually closed the menu and said the same for me please. When the waiter served us our soup and was out of ear shot, my friend leaned into me and said these words I have etched in my memory for all time "I'm getting tired of this. Every time I order this soup they keep changing it." :) It seems she did not know that Soup Du Jour meant soup of the day. She told me the first timed she ordered it she received a lovely bowl of French Onion and was thrilled with it. She enjoyed it so much that the next time she ordered it again dreaming of the crusty baguette floating atop. That time she received minestrone soup. Disappointed she ate it but it was also good. This time they delivered a clam chowder which she intensely disliked. It's funny the lenghts we go to, afraid that people will look down on us if we don't meet their perceived standards. Soup Du Jour will forever hold a special place in my heart.