Yesterday provided an opportunity for a long drive on my own, listening to music and enjoying the Ohio autumn scenery. Walking and driving are where ideas pop up for me, probably for you too, I imagine. Here’s what floated up yesterday: the mundane things that made me feel like a grown up. I can’t say why, but one of those things was ordering a Caesar salad for the first time. I was about 20, having been invited to lunch by a boss, actually the boss’ boss, when I worked for the local branch of the cable tv company. His name was Kevin, and now that I think about it, he was probably only in his early 30’s. He had a wife and two toddler boys, whom I would later have the opportunity to babysit (relax, it was never presented as being expected or tied to my job; instead it made me feel like a trusted–albeit paid–friend) and I felt very important and intimidated to be asked to a lunch meeting. There was definitely an agenda, and we went to the Ground Round restaurant not far from our offices. And that’s where I decided that a grown-up order would be the Caesar salad. I may or may not have eaten that type of salad before that day, but it became my official adult, professional, corporate lunch order. Innocuous, but still stylish, I thought. Those croutons and fancy shaved parmesan. The knowledge that the dressing was “supposed” to be made with raw egg and anchovies. How mature. Perhaps not the case at the Ground Round restaurants, but the salad remains a favorite to this day and I do make homemade Caesar dressing the authentic way.

Another order that smacked of adulthood was a fresh bagel with cream cheese. Growing up, bagels came out of the freezer and went into the toaster, then were buttered. Crunchy, delicious carbs. It wasn’t until I became aware of adult things like New York City, Jewish delis, and lox, that I considered the very different yet equally satisfying breakfast order. In fact, there weren’t actually places to get what could be called a fresh bagel on my side of Cleveland when I was a kid, and definitely not in suburbia. I still like bagels both ways, but in my mind they are as different as donuts and muffins are from one another. If you crave one, the other won’t quite scratch the itch completely.

What sort of things made you feel like an adult for the first time?