Ever Had One of Those Days

I read this post in Making Light today, titled “To The Artist’s Eye Everything is Beautiful” (http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/006922.html#006922)
It talks about the art of assembling models – as in ships and houses and trains. I thought it was very poignant and makes you think a bit about how we really see the world in order to represent it. For example, is tree bark really brown in color?

This weekend, Mr. Random invited some friends of ours to come out to dinner with us on Saturday to help celebrate my upcoming birthday. We send out the e-mail invite a bit late, but figured that whoever could come, could come and we’d be happy with that. A few folks RSVP’d and said that they may be there, so we made plans accordingly.

Here’s the thing . . . Do you have friends that don’t get along with other friends? Or friends who you know from one venue, who don’t necessarily fit in in other venues? Well, that’s what happened on Saturday . . . and when these sorts of folks get together it is kind of awkward. Now I do have “bridge” friends – you know, the kind of folks who get along with everyone and can make fun conversation and get everyone involved and not feel weird. However, these friends weren’t able to show up, and I am lousy at doing the bridge thing, so there was one side of the table . . . and the other side of the table. One couple brought their 14 month old son - which normally I am totally cool with, and he was very well behaved, and I enjoyed making him laugh and smile – but it was a bit distracting and I had a hard time talking to the couple since they were trying to corral the boy and get him to eat. The problem was also that they did not have much to talk about with my friend, J, which made things a bit more awkward. And when another couple came a bit later, it improved things a bit, but it was still a little weird.

Another thing about the dinner is that the couple with the kid left before the check came and left some money with my husband for the check. However, when they check came, it turns out that they had HORRIBLY underpaid for what they ordered. We went to Jaleo, which is a very yummy Spanish Tapas chain in DC, and each little dish of Tapas costs at least 5 bucks a piece. They had ordered about eight dishes – and I do not exaggerate, I counted – including dishes of scallops and salmon and other fancy stuff, and we split 2 pitchers of Sangria. They left only $40, which including tax and tip, even if they got the cheapest stuff on the menu was totally not enough. I felt so bad that everyone had to make up the difference. Well, I know not to invite them next time! I really hate the “money game” anyway . . . the whole splitting up the check and getting the money together because someone always puts in much too little and everyone else has to make up for it because you don’t know exactly who was the one who stiffed us. We should probably do separate checks, but that’s usually a pain for the waiters to keep track of, especially when there’s a large party.

I want to state for the record that I really like kids and enjoy having them come to our events, so I’m not just piling on this couple just because they brought their kid. B was actually the highlight of my evening . . . he had the best laugh, and I could just look at him and he’d give me the BEST smile . . .

Has anyone else had a similar experience with odd sorts of friends or being stiffed atthe end of a dinner? Do share!

Not much time to find a poem today, but does anyone else have a poem to share? Would love to see what other folks are interested in . . .