OBSERVATIONS AT VALENTINE’S DAY DINNER
In my last blog I talked about my [delayed] birthday dinner at the RH Rooftop Restaurant in Edina. I’m trying to keep my entries short, because that’s the kind I prefer to read. So I saved this observation for today. When we arrived I noticed a table of six young women having a good time together. (“Young.” I guess anything between nineteen and thirty-five qualifies as young from my point of view. Maybe even forty-five – who knows). All I know is they were six young women sitting together having a good time. My comment to Doug? “I love seeing that. Back in my day if we didn’t have a date for Valentine’s day we sat home feeling sorry for ourselves.”
It reminded me, by contrast, of a time several years ago when our travels took us to a place where we were dining on the night of the local high-school prom. Seated there was a table of four girls with their dates. I deliberately didn’t say “four boys with their dates,” because it was so clear the guys were primarily there to make the girls dress-up party possible. To state it bluntly, the guys were clearly being used as the girls basically ignored them as they primped, giggled happily, and chatted. It reminded me a bit of Marable Morgan’s 1973 Total Woman’s advice on how to get and keep a man – an economic necessity. No skin off my nose, but I felt sorry for the guys and their somewhat lost, silent, and confused look dressed in their rented tuxes. Frankly, I much preferred today’s version, including the couples there who did, indeed, look like they were enjoying each other.
So that’s what happens when you take me out in public. Like it or not, I’ll be observing, thinking, and talking. (And I do believe Doug had a good time too.)
monagustafsonaffinito 