Are you okay, Dad? Are you choking???

I recently told a friend the story of Dad choking one night when we went out to dinner. It wasn't very dramatic, but it was very hilarious, so I figured I'd post it here.

I was 19 at the time, as I recall it. Dad was living in DC during the week and commuting back to Philly on the weekends. I'd spend a night or so with him every week or two so I could experience what it was like to stay the night downtown on the 16th (? I think) floor of a big high-rise. I got to sleep in the office/dining alcove right by the kitchen, and in the morning we would have big bowls of plain Cheerios and almost as big mugs of Taster's Choice crystals with condensed milk. Before you narrow your eyes accusingly, coffee snob, allow me to tell you that this was absolutely delicious and exactly what I needed to be dropped back off at my mom's house at, oh, 6:45am. The night before, he'd pick me up somewhere and we'd go for a long walk to the grocery store or a restaurant, taking advantage of DC's 9pm summer sunsets.

So, one night we walked to Cafe Deluxe in that weird Cathedral-esque neighborhood that's not quite walkable from Metro (at least not Metrorail). I think Dad had steak or some other kind of meat. Cafe Deluxe's menu hasn't changed in the past twelve years, and there aren't a lot of options, but they are pretty much all delicious. That information is unnecessary to the story. Anyway, Dad talks five times as much as I do, if you can believe that, and suddenly in the middle of a sentence he was silent. His face turned a deeper hue of red than normal and he began to cough.

"Are you okay, Dad?" I asked. He shook his head and continued coughing.

"Are you choking???" I asked more urgently. He nodded and continued coughing.

"DO YOU WANT ME TO GET SOMEONE?????" I yelled. He shook his head... and continued coughing. By this time he was a bit plummy in complexion.

And then, in a big letdown -- for plot's sake, sicko -- it somehow worked itself down the pipes and he was fine.

I've eaten at the various Cafe Deluxe locations several times since this incident and to this day it's still all I can think about. At least until I've had a Maker's Manhattan or two.