Monday, September 04, 2006

Educational Table Talk

Tonight we went out to enjoy a steak dinner at my husband's favorite restaurant. As usual, we were packed in like sardines. This meant that the people at the next table were so close to us that not only could we have easily shared their appetizers, but they got the benefit of the rather lively conversation that was taking place at our table.

With the age spread of our kids, lively conversation is to be expected. Subject matter is all over the place. Tonight was no exception, and it was pretty obvious that our discussions were very entertaining to the Grandparent-Generation Couple who couldn't help but eavesdrop.

We started out by brainstorming solutions to the problem of our Party-Hearty Neighbors. For the past few weekends, the "young adults" next door have been taking advantage of their mom's absence to throw loud parties. Last night the party included loud music and liberal use of the "F-Bomb" PLUS a few guys who thought it was way cooler to relieve themselves through the fence into our yard rather than use one of the two bathrooms inside the house. (Yes, I called the police.)

Anyway, at the dinner table tonight we were discussing the relative merits of having Big Brother and his fellow Boy Scouts electrify our fence versus concealing Big Brother in some shrubbery in our yard with a hose or sprinkler, waiting to ambush the guys who think our backyard makes a nice potty. Little Brother offered his watering services as well, but these parties start past his bedtime.

We considered the reasons why root beer doesn't make as much foam if you tilt the glass while pouring, and Big Brother thought that the Mythbusters should work on this, but then he remembered that they really only do stuff that will blow up.

We moved on to Big Brother's need for a new binder for school, which quickly degenerated into a Lecture By Mom on the topic of "Don't Insult Your Sister By Calling Her Favorite Binder 'Fruity' When It's Only 'Fruity' If A Boy Carries One."

We wound up the meal by discussing the difference between implosion and explosion, and how fun it is to watch demolition, especially of Really Big Buildings. (I'm a sucker for a good implosion).

That was a pretty standard conversation for our family. I hope the people at the next table had as good a time as we did at dinner tonight. No doubt they learned something.

No comments: