Last night in Sidney, NE we stopped to look at a hotel. It was The Dude from the Big Lebowski working the front desk. He liked my shirt and when I told him I got it in Stockholm he said, “Nice, I always wanted to go to the Netherlands.”

At dinner, a chain restaurant because in Sidney, Nebraska there is not one other dinner option, we heard the kitchen tell our young waitress that they had no more soup. Corey and Henna were waiting on that soup (which was most of their dinner). Ten minutes passed and my dinner was ready before the waitress told us they had no soup. Meanwhile her boyfriend came by with their baby. The two sat next to our booth with dad ignoring baby who began to cry louder and louder as we waited for our new dinner. Waitress then worked the room while at the same time trying to soothe the baby which caused baby to cry louder. And it felt good heading home.

In Paris we had a waiter patiently review our order before making suggestions that greatly enhanced our dining experience. We tipped 10% and he reacted as if we had tipped a whole lot more. Here in the heartland we tipped 20% for inept service and a good story.