Based on a recent dining-out experience, I have developed serious concerns about the state of our society.When I was just a little girl, going out to eat was a rare and exciting event. Dad would take us to the A&W once every three months if we were lucky. We were never allowed to have a large A&W root beer with our meal because it was too expensive (10¢). We could only have the small size (5¢). Once a year, we went to the airport in Sioux Falls to watch the planes take off and land. Remember, this was in the late 1950’s (yes, I was alive in the 50’s) and air travel wasn’t as commonplace as today. Afterward, we ate at the airport restaurant. My aunt Marge and cousin Joel always went with us. Back then, the airport restaurant was a pretty decent place to dine. It wasn’t just a hamburger joint or snack bar. The menu included steaks and fresh seafood, plus white fabric tablecloths and napkins. On this once-a-year occasion, my dad let us order lobster tail, which we all did. I just couldn’t believe that we could afford to spend so much money on one dinner. Then, to top off the yearly excursion, we got to go to a movie in Sioux Falls. It was like a whole year of living in a single day. This is all leading to my societal concerns. Last weekend, the loving husband and I ate out at Sharkee’s on Friday night and Magnolia Steak House on Saturday night. On Sunday night we planned to grill a couple of steaks in the backyard, with some fresh asparagus from the garden, and a salad with our own homegrown lettuce, spinach, onions, radishes, etc. We worked hard in the garden most of the afternoon and then ran over to Brandon to pick up the table and chairs we had lent to my niece. As we were heading across town to the freeway entrance, the loving husband said, "I’m really hungry. Maybe we should stop and get a bit to eat." I replied, "But, what about the steaks?" Well, he didn’t really feel like cooking and neither did I. Then he suggested that maybe we should just have one of our Schwans’ frozen pizzas. I said, "Yeah, but then we have to take it out of the box and put it in the oven." So, at the last minute, we turned left and swung into Tailgator’s. We ate our third dinner in three nights at a restaurant. All day Monday, I looked forward to the rare and exciting event of eating at home. Reading a good novel can be a rare and exciting event, as well. This is the latest book by Janet Evanovich, "Eleven on Top." Stephanie Plum is thinking her career as a fugitive apprehension agent has run its course. She’s been shot at, spat at, cussed at, firebombed, mooned, and attacked by dogs. Its time to find the kind of job her mother can tell her friends about without making the sign of the cross. So Stephanie Plum quits. Resigns. No looking back. She wants something safe and normal. As it turns out, jobs that are safe and normal for most people aren’t necessarily safe and normal for Stephanie Plum. Trouble follows her and her past has come back to haunt her. She’s stalked by a maniac returned from the grave for the sole purpose of putting her into a burial plot of her own. He’s killed before, and he’ll kill again if given the chance. After disturbingly brief careers at the button factory, Kan Klean Dry Cleaners, and Cluck-in-a-Bucket, Stephanie takes an office position in security, working for Ranger, the sexiest, wildest bounty hunter on two continents. It might not be the job she’ll keep for the rest of her life, but for now it gives her the technical access she needs to find her stalker.