The Kmart cafeteria.

It's not the nicest place in the world. I'm less confident about the tables being wiped down and the cook's hands washed than even your lower-tier fast food restaurants. Your Hardee's. Your Blimpie subs.

But I settled in and tried not to think about the table germs as I ate lunch yesterday. The store cafeteria really is a kickback from a bygone era. I remember getting jello at the Woolworth cafeteria as a child, but I haven't eaten at one in years.

Why now? Well, we took the bus to the Kmart plaza to check out the pet store. Carolyn, having read about a boy who goes to see snakes, loves the pet store. She even says so. She says, "I love going to the pet store."

So we were pretty disappointed when there were no snakes, and it was lunch. McDonalds was just a few hundred yards away, but the walk would have taken us through the parking lot and across a road. So we looked on, hungry for chicken nuggets but unwilling to brave the dangerous walk.

It's just another thing. So we spent half the money, ate half the calories and went back outside to wait for the bus. It was pretty uneventful, as bus trips go.

And as far as I can tell, that's awesome.