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Dinner Conversation
Last night we went out to dinner in honor of Jason's 32nd birthday. We had a lovely meal--good food, nice wine, much love--except that I found the conversation at the table next to us very distracting.
The party was made up of two men who were discussing their respective divorces at some length. The first time I found myself eavesdropping, one of them was talking about the various "legal, but creative" accounting tricks he uses to make his income on paper smaller, so that his ex-wife gets less support for their four children. He went on to complain that his eldest daughter has just gone to college and he doesn't understand why that doesn't mean that his child support payments should drop by 25%. [Elizabeth doesn't say "Because the mortgage didn't drop by 25%, you moron!"]
At a later point in the conversation, he was talking about his second wife's relationship with his kids, explaining that there's never really been any conflict, because the kids never lived with them, so there wasn't a classic "step" relationship to try to manage. But, he added, it was convenient, because when he does have to have the kids for a holiday or something, his wife deals with them and keeps them out of his hair and she takes care of all the annoying stuff, like remembering their birthday. [Elizabeth doesn't say "You have had a vasectomy, right?"]
Shortly before we left, while I was waiting for my husband to return to the table, I once again found myself paying attention to their talk. The other guy was saying that he's 100% sure that his wife never knew about the affair he'd been having for years, because it never came up in the divorce proceedings, so the divorce had, and I quote "absolutely nothing to do" with his relationship with the other woman. [Elizabeth doesn't say "Because lying to your wife and failing to fully invest yourself in your marriage couldn't possibly have any bearing on why it didn't work out?"]
I found myself glad that we weren't there celebrating our anniversary, even though that would have made a better story.
The party was made up of two men who were discussing their respective divorces at some length. The first time I found myself eavesdropping, one of them was talking about the various "legal, but creative" accounting tricks he uses to make his income on paper smaller, so that his ex-wife gets less support for their four children. He went on to complain that his eldest daughter has just gone to college and he doesn't understand why that doesn't mean that his child support payments should drop by 25%. [Elizabeth doesn't say "Because the mortgage didn't drop by 25%, you moron!"]
At a later point in the conversation, he was talking about his second wife's relationship with his kids, explaining that there's never really been any conflict, because the kids never lived with them, so there wasn't a classic "step" relationship to try to manage. But, he added, it was convenient, because when he does have to have the kids for a holiday or something, his wife deals with them and keeps them out of his hair and she takes care of all the annoying stuff, like remembering their birthday. [Elizabeth doesn't say "You have had a vasectomy, right?"]
Shortly before we left, while I was waiting for my husband to return to the table, I once again found myself paying attention to their talk. The other guy was saying that he's 100% sure that his wife never knew about the affair he'd been having for years, because it never came up in the divorce proceedings, so the divorce had, and I quote "absolutely nothing to do" with his relationship with the other woman. [Elizabeth doesn't say "Because lying to your wife and failing to fully invest yourself in your marriage couldn't possibly have any bearing on why it didn't work out?"]
I found myself glad that we weren't there celebrating our anniversary, even though that would have made a better story.
??!!?
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(Anonymous) 2004-07-16 09:51 am (UTC)(link)and more importantly- having a kid in college is supposed to cost her mother *less* than having a kid in high school? ummmm...
what an ass. i commend you for your self-control.
-surreal
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On a happier note, happy birthday to Jason! :)
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Personal responsibility, much?
P. S.
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Glad you had a nice time, though!
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And to think I laughed when Monty Python did the routine with the couple asking the waiter for another conversation because the ones they had were not working. I'd be sorely tempted, in your place, to ask a waiter very loudly to give the guys next table a different conversation. ;-)
And yes, it's very sad that people can be such jerks like the two you witnessed.
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In that spirit, I feel obliged to point out that... well... actually... yeah, you're absolutely right. Yow.
I wonder whether, in your position, I would have resisted the temptation to join them and mutter into my hypothetical beer about my hypothetical divorce and how the bitch got everything just because her doctor testified about the broken ribs and see just how far I could go before they caught on.