Home for the Holidays
Twenty-five observations about my trip to Poughkeepsie
1. I haven’t stopped eating since I got here.
2. On the way up here I spent the day in New York City.
3. In NY I saw the 25th Putnam County Spelling Bee Musical
4. I liked the show a lot.
5. The woman next to me kept talking to her children through the beginning of the show and I turned to them and casually mentioned that people are not supposed to talk during a show.
6. I may have sounded a bit condescending when I said that.
7. When the lights went up at the end of the show the woman punched me very hard in the arm and told me that she had a terminal illness so it was okay that she talk during the show. I respectfully disagreed. My father said I should have turned her in for assault but I was too speechless to do or say anything and busy worrying whether my arm would be bruised.
8. If I had six months to live I don’t think I would spend it getting into arguments with strangers in front of my children at public places.
9. We had manicotti for dinner tonight.
10. We also had cannolis that my mom bought from the Italian bakery in Poughkeepsie.
11. I had a drink with my friend, the (former) speech writer boy, at Grand Central Station and he noted that I probably sounded condescending when I said that to the woman because I have a tendency to sound condescending when I am angry.
12. I went to Lenscrafters after the contacts fiasco and discovered that they can’t sell me contacts without a prescription signed by an optometrist.
13. I had to get an eye exam at the mall in Poughkeepsie.
14. The eye doctor who was a little bit flirty but married joked that George Bush was one of few people more myopic than I am.
15. He meant that in the metaphorical sense.
16. It’s pretty rainy and nasty here.
17. Last night I watched the movie musical Carousel on Turner Movie Classics. It has a marvelous score but the book has its issues.
18. Then I watched Sleepless in Seattle.
19. Both Carousel and Sleepless in Seattle made me cry.
20. We went to see Syriana in Hyde Park at what might very well be the smallest movie theater in New York state.
21. The movie was fine, definitely engaging.
22. I am now watching Degrassi Junior High, The Next Generation. I loved Degrassi when I was a kid. Many of the adults were on the original show. They either seem too old or too young to be the grown up versions of the Degrassi kids, but I can’t tell which.
23. Joey Jeremiah got better with age.
24. Degrassi, The Next Generation is now making me cry.
25. Maybe I cry too easily.
posted by SAS @ 1:09 AM
6 comments
6 Comments:
"...I have a tendency to sound condescending when I am angry."
It's part of your charm. ;)
I went up to two guys who were in the cast of Spelling Bee at some "event." I was drunk. I asked them for free tickets. They politely declined, saying it was out of their power to give me tickets. I told them I heard their musical is really good, but I'm overwhelmed by all the spelling-related culture out there -- the Myla Goldberg book, the movie based on that book, the Spellbound documentary, and then the original Spellbound Hitchcock film. Which had nothing to do with spelling, I assured them. They hadn't heard of the Hitch flick, or maybe one of them did. I then went on to critique the film, largely for Gregory Peck's rather wooden performance. They really wanted me to leave at this point. I obliged.
ps: Terminal disease or not, condescension on your part or not, that woman was way out of line in punching you!
E to the V
She seriously punched you? AND HARD?!?!
Honestly, if I were you, I would have lost all restraint - probably ending the conversation thanking the fact that the world will "soon" be rid of her presence.
Terminal illness ... whatever.
And who cares if you sound condescending when you're angry ... YOU'RE ANGRY! People are lucky you hold composure are well as you do ...
"Spelling Bee" is on the theater rotation this coming spring. We're getting ready by learning all the words to the songs, but I promise I won't sing along becuase I don't want to have to punch someone in the arm.
Good for you for speaking up!
We are all dying of a terminal disease, it's called LIFE! That's probably her excuse for everything.
Great list. I got picnhced and grabbed by a surly old man after I kept trying to keep his wife from kicking the back of my chair at the movies. Not a few times, but more like 30-40. I too was so shocked I really didn't know what to say. I think I ended up telling him to take his hands off of me and my mother yelled at him or something. We were so dumbfounded I didn't think of much else. I have a few choice spelling words for both him and Terminalina
LD - Resorting to condescension is not really charming, I don't think. It's a fall back and a habit that runs in my family and I need to learn to breathe through those moments and get over it.
E to the V - What was this event you speak of? Sounds so exciting and "NY"! And was Dr. Ruth there too?
JEMP - Yes, I would have liked to have seen how you would have dealt with the situation. And I was tempted to say something to that effect, but knowing my tendency to feel guilty, I figured it was better not to tether myself to a gigantic guilt trip for the weekend.
Michael - theater rotation?
dc food - Yeah, people have weird perceptions of personal space. You gotta wonder if these people beat their kids and spouses too. I mean, if someone would hit/pinch/slap/poke a perfect stranger I would guess they do worse to those close to them.
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