Last week, I went with a friend of mine to dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, which happens to be one of my favorite restaurants. We got there late – about 8pm or so – and the place was packed and noisy. More to the point, though, the place was dark. Dark not only from the sun having set, but because the restaurant isn’t very well-lit. Thus, I was faced with a problem.

I don’t see well in the dark. At all.

We sat at a table with virtually no light whatsoever, save for a wimpy little candle on the table. I knew I was in for trouble when we were seated, but moving wasn’t possible due to the place being so busy. The menu was almost unreadable with barely any light, so I just kind of skimmed and flipped pages in deciding what I wanted to order. My saving grace was that since I go to The Cheesecake Factory fairly often, I know their menu pretty well. And I know which dishes I like most, so I usually alternate between them. When it came time to order, I just closed my menu and ordered one of my usuals, and that was that. (Truth be told, The Cheesecake Factory’s menu is so vast and diverse, it’s hard to get through the thing even in broad daylight. But I digress.) I repeated the process when ordering dessert, because why go to The Cheesecake Factory if you’re not going to get cheesecake? And, again, I didn’t really need the menu.

I suppose the point of this story is to show that my eyes need light more than anything. I need light to see well. But put me in a situation where I don’t have any light, and I’m effectively totally blind. That’s why I don’t like going out at night unless I’m with someone or in a well-lit environment; navigating myself around sucks otherwise. Case in point: I enjoyed myself overall, but the meal I shared with my friend would’ve been much more enjoyable had I been able to see. I got through it, but it was harder than it had to be.

Thank goodness I knew what I wanted.