say what?

I'm sure you've all heard the one about the mom who was herding her kids into the gas station for a pit stop and as she reached the door she instructed them, in no uncertain terms "Now you know what I said- NO JUNK FOOD! You can only have pop or chips."

I always thought that was a bit of an urban legend since I actually never really heard that statement with my own ears and I'm not even sure I remember who told me the story but this past weekend in Banff I heard something that made me do a classic "say what?"

I was enjoying my weekend at The Rimrock luxury hotel in Banff. It was Friday morning and I had stopped by the little cafe next to the lobby to pick up something for breakfast. This is the hotel cafe that sells breakfast items for a small fortune but it is cheaper than room service and it usually has a good selection of tasty, nutritious foods. I chose a banana and a cereal bar and plunked down my credit card.

As I was signing off on my breakfast choice a young mom and her energetic four year old son bounded into the cafe.

"MOM, can I have that banana for breakfast?!!?" He literally vibrated with excitement as he pointed to the banana behind the the glass counter.

Mom was calm and firm as she outlined what her young son should choose. "Now honey, we came down here to get some breakfast. Look over here at the breakfast foods," whereupon she guided his little head to the other side of the counter that was filled with pastries, donuts and a generally wide selection of what I might be tempted to label, NOT FOOD.

"Choose something for breakfast so we can go swimming", she gently urged.

Yes, I'm sure my jaw hit the floor as I gawked with disbelief and I honestly couldn't think of a thing to say or do but scoop up my banana and make a hasty exit. Seriously? SAY WHAT???