kelvin woke up nearly at noon, the time we were scheduled to leave for blue ribbon barbecue in arlington. "i overslept, i didn't hear my alarm," was his excuse, as he went to get ready. we left by 12:15pm, catching the 77 bus off of mass ave. i don't think i've ever taken the 77 bus before even though i see it all the time, whether at harvard station or out on the street. it was surprisingly crowded when we climbed onboard, a mix of young students and seniors, the two groups that seem to comprise the majority of midday public transportation traveling demographics. google maps told me the bus ride would only take 10 minutes but i knew that to be false based on the traffic pattern. it seems like the bus stopped at every single intersection, crawling towards our destination. once we left cambridge into arlington, the passengers thinned out. we finally arrived at blue ribbon by 1pm.

there was a tiny crowd but they all seemed to be finishing up. there was still some counter space which we grabbed. i ordered the blue ribbon trio platter: texas sliced beef brisket (+50¢), red hot smoked sausages, kansas city burnt ends (+50¢), with sides of black-eyed corn and cole slaw, and a complimentary piece of corn bread. i also added some sweet tea ($1.49), bringing the total to $21.38. as for the sauces, i filled up on hot bbq, sweet bbq, gold bbq, and chipotle mustard. kelvin got the same thing but ribs instead of sausages, and egg salad instead of cole slaw. we only waited a few minutes before we got our orders, a heaping pile of barbecue. we hung up our jackets on the wall hooks and began eating.

perhaps tainted by hunger, but everything was delicious, especially dipped in the various barbecue sauces, a real flavor explosion. despite it all, i only managed to eat half before i called it quits. we got covers and bags for our food and brought it back home. the ride home was faster, but as soon as we pulled into cambridge, passenger numbers began to mount. i noticed kelvin was holding his bag vertically instead of horizontally. nothing seemed to be leaking so i didn't say anything. but when we got off, he noticed barbecue sauce had dripped all over the front of his jacket. fortunately it's waterproof, and once we got home, he sprayed on some stain remover, scrubbed it gently with a brush, then rinsed it in the sink, good as new.

but this is a perfect example of the wisdom of age. i knew perfectly well not to hold the container vertically, due to the risk of drips, something that young kelvin had yet to learn, but hopefully he'll gain something from this life lesson.