Went to a goodbye party last week at Hooters.

It was Jim’s idea. Jim likes Hooters. He’s made it a point to visit many around the country.

Jim likes the buffalo wings. He says.

The lunch was to honor our friend and colleague Leslie, who said she did not object to going to Hooters.

It’s a happening place.

For years I thought the name was a joke.

I’d only heard it mentioned on “Married with Children.”

After I learned the chain was real, I did not go kicking and screaming when friends took me there the first time.

The food’s not much but the atmosphere is convivial.

At Leslie’s lunch, I observed _ it’s what journalists do _ that the waitresses appeared to have their shorts and tops painted onto their bodies.

How else could they fit into them?

The food was ………. not the point.

Although one female member of our party liked the grouper.

And Jim was all over the buffalo wings.

Because I am naturally curious, I beckoned our tall, dark-haired waitress to our table as we started to leave.

I asked if there are any no-nos on the job and if there’s anything the waitresses are told they must do during training.

She said they have to act friendly with customers. And they can set their own boundaries.

She used different words but that was the idea.

The intriguing thing she said was they have to maintain the same figure they had when they were first interviewed.

Didn’t ask how they fit into the clothes.

They just do.

During her close-up I noticed that her face was blanketed with makeup.

If it was to cover up something it worked. Although, in her early 20s at most, what she had to cover up was beyond me. Her complexion looked fine.

Everything else was in the open.

I have no memory of the food.

Jim said the buffalo wings were great.

,

I’ve been aware of Maggie Gyllenhaal since “Secretary.”

I like her acting, she’s cute, she’s good in “World Trade Center.”

That’s the extent of our relationship.

So I was surprised to see her in my dream the other night.

In the dream, her miserable husband is giving her a hard time.

For some reason, Maggie turns to me for sustenance.

Which is OK with me.

As happens in the land of dreams, Maggie wants to use me for physical comfort as well as emotional.

The adultery thing flits through my awareness.

I have flexible morals in my dreams.

She is sexy. The word ”luscious” occurs to me.

I am pleasantly surprised to see her again the next night, on screen in “Stranger than Fiction.”

I have forgotten she is in the film, no doubt because all the publicity was all about Will Ferrell.

Maggie acts uptight in the movie, but she looks relaxed.

Maybe she had a similar dream the night before.

It’s not impossible. Stranger things have happened.

And, with any luck, could happen again.