We stopped at a breakfast place along U.S. Highway 20 called the Country Table. It was filled with guys with plaid shirts and women with dyed hair. Whenever there was a booth occupied by a group of men or a group of women, they were always huddled close, chattering happily away.
But whenever a husband sat with his wife, silence prevailed. There were no words, just dull chewing. It's the same everywhere, not just here. How is it possible to share a whole meal with someone without talking?
Before I got married I used to worry that after a few decades my wife and I would run out of things to say. But so far that hasn’t happened. Our conversation probably isn’t that interesting. We repeat ourselves endlessly. But so far at least we don’t suffer from "dead air syndrome."
3 comments:
Sometimes it isn't for lack of something to say as much as just enjoying a quiet meal with a special person. so says moi who never runs out of things to say lol!
DEAD AIR does sound rather strange to me (married for 32 happy years). At least the dead-airers could have struck up a conversation by asking if they liked the soup or if they wanted dessert. Despite not being a talkative type myself, I always have something to raise at the dinner table (or restaurant table as the case may be) ... and my "better half" being a talkative soul has plenty to raise. Nope, I can't fancy how any real couple -- plaid or batik shirted -- can spend an hour together without having some sort of conversation no matter how mundane.
Reminds me of a passage from "Our Town" by Thornton Wilder. Act II; Dr. Gibbs says (to his
wife): "Julia, do you know one of the things I was scared of when I married you? I was afraid we wouldn't have material for conversation more'n'd last us a few weeks. I was afraid we'd run out and eat our meals in silence, that's a fact. -- Well, you and I been conversing for twenty years now without any noticeable barren spells."
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