It’s a hot day, and you’re craving pistachio ice cream. You open the freezer, but there’s only a spoonful left. Good news—your spouse or friend calls from the grocery store and offers to pick some up.
You’re thrilled…until they walk in with mint chocolate chip. You hate mint chocolate chip. How do you handle it?
That scenario kicks off episode 139 of the Life Writers Vlog, where we write about Unmet Expectations.
We all face them—missed roles, wrong pets, or dreams that never took off. Sometimes we get mad. Sometimes we cry. Sometimes we move on. Sometimes we find something even better on the other side of the disappointment.
Today, we hear about a heartwarming restaurant in Tokyo where all the servers have been diagnosed with dementia. At the Restaurant of Unmet Expectations, you probably won’t get the meal you ordered, but joy, laughter, and connection are always on the menu. If you’d like to learn more about the Restaurant of Unmet Expectations and watch it in action, click here.
Before writing, list your own moments of unmet expectations—just a few words to spark memories. Then pick one item on your list and write the story.
When you’ve finished, share your story with us in the comments section below.
But know that our expectations of you are always met, because the only way to do this wrong is to not do it at all, and you’re doing it!
Until next time, happy writing, everybody.
my unmet expectations story. Late is better than never.
Oddly enough, what surfaced — besides the story of how I missed my debut as a fairy in “Midsummer night’s dream” due to measles, which I’ve already written about — was also an incident from our days in England. There was a local fair, probably in Brackley (our final location), and one of the games of chance involved tossing a ping pong ball into a clear glass goldfish bowl to win a goldfish. It didn’t seem difficult, as there were many clear glass bowls lined up. Bigger prizes were for people who could land the ball in a colored bowl;… Read more »
Okay. So, I came up with a first draft after my research. It’s tough digging out accurate info that far back. But I got the stuff I needed.
John, thanks for this story about an early disappointment. I’m sorry you never had the chance to meet Happy Felton or any of the Dodger players. Hopefully, some of your epic encounters as a limo driver made up for it!
I’m working on a story that goes back to the 1950s, as when I was a mere child. Your prompt stirred up another one. Doing some research and finding out some fascinating facts about eight-year-old Johnny’s world.
I wrote a story about unmet expectations. Where should it go?
“Grandma, we’re on our way to Rochester. They think they have a liver for me. We’re just about to our exit.” “Great! What wonderful news! Good luck and we’ll be praying for you.” Finally, she might be able to live a normal life, after years of illness, health crises, and trips to the hospital. Not so fast. She had two, maybe three months of relatively good health following the transplant. Then complications set in: rejection Type I Diabetes caused by the drugs used to fight the rejection, as well as other things I don’t know about. The only things I… Read more »
Linda, this is heartbreaking. I will also be praying for your granddaughter. Thank you for your trust in sharing this deeply personal unmet expectation.
Thank you so much.
Patricia, thank you for your help leading us to think about this interesting prompt. The three minutes of brainstorming went by in a flash. My recent road trip was filled with days of surprises. Is that the same as unmet expectations?
Where can I get pistachio ice cream? (Maybe I need to move to a bigger city.)