I hope you had a happy Mother’s Day. I celebrated by staying as far away from restaurants as I could. Taking your mother out to eat on Mother’s Day has always been a thoughtful option, but when I was a boy it wasn’t the de rigueur tradition it is today. Maybe because there weren’t nearly so many restaurants in those days or maybe because we didn’t know what de rigueur meant, but a typical Mother’s Day meal at my parents’ house meant our usual Sunday feast: fried chicken, peas, mashed potatoes and other assorted sides, all expertly and uncomplainingly prepared by my sainted mother. Oh, she received gifts from my father and her two sons, but unchaining her from the stove simply wasn’t considered an option, not even by her. I suppose all change isn’t bad. However, I can’t help but think of all those mothers waiting on all those tables in all those restaurants. I hope you tipped well.