Thursday, July 14, 2011

Breaking The Spell

There is always a person at a get-together with friends, a dinner party with family or night out with your crew who is a spell breaker. It happens when they say the seven words I dread hearing.

"Well, I guess I should get going..."

It's not long after that everyone seems to trickle out, following the pied piper into the night. I suppose it's a little different when you're young and out clubbing, because those words are usually shouted across a noisy dance floor, to whomever happens to have caught the eye of the one departing, and even if they don't hear what was said, they still holler back, "Sure! OK. Have fun!" Five minutes later they won't even care you're gone.


For me, the urge to depart is most noticeable when I'm with people in a quiet environment; a restaurant dinner, a family gathering, a birthday dinner at the folks house. I'm the kind of person who will pile the dishes in the sink to do them after my dinner guests have left. I'm also type who will stay at the table with empty coffee cups, dessert plates smeared with hardened frosting, and water goblets that are sweating from melting ice.

As soon as someone gets up from the table, especially if they're clearing the dishes, I get tense and annoyed. Whether at your own home or someone else's, it's just rude. If you're the one throwing the dinner or party, you shouldn't leave the room to do dishes, you should be entertaining your guests. If it's at someone else's house and you start clearing or doing dishes, it's tantamount to saying, "I'm bored with this conversation. It's time to wrap this up." Either scenario is unpleasant.

My best memories involve talking and laughing into the wee hours of the morning, whether it's with family, new friends, old friends, or best friends
. The times when you had to take the food out again to make a sandwich because it's been hours since you last ate; nights when another pot of coffee needs to be brewed, or another bottle of wine needs to be opened; or when you're the only two left in a restaurant and the staff has started to vacuum.

Those are the times when everyone is under the spell. And it's magical.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1 YEAR AGO:
It Never Ends
2 YEARS AGO:
275 Square Miles Of Brilliance
3 YEARS AGO:
Four Standards, One Newbie
4 YEARS AGO:
Semantics
5 YEARS AGO:
36 Hours Of Hell On Earth
6 YEARS AGO:
11:11:11

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