Mesa

Phil made me think of the above. Enjoy.



We don't have a table. There is a folding card table for the occasional game, but it leans up against the counter most of the time. There are a couple of wooden tray tables, that occasionally come out. Largely, we eat in front of the TV on the sofa, or at the counter, which doubles as my desk. Sometimes we do the crossword online together. This is not new behaviour.

We do talk together. But we both eat way too fast, bad habits of lifetimes reinforced in the army, where the KP push truism is "If you can taste it, you're eating too slow!" When it comes to chow halls, this is correct. I technically know how to cook, D has a few meals he makes, neither of us are particularly good, we just use a lot of spices.

When I lived with my parents, peace came to dinner when, after my brothers moved out, we began to eat in front of the television. George Perot Presents. As this link says,

George Perot was an enormous man sitting in a wingback chair who seemed completely incapable of simple locomotion, much less somehow leaving Wayne County. Nonetheless, every week he would describe amazing* intercontinental adventures. His show was live, and towards the end he was at least once spotted sleeping while a guest was talking.

Dull beyond belief, (I object to the term "*amazing" having anything to do with the travelogues presented) with video of buildings and mountains, often without people, it distracted my father from finding something to get mad about. A huge blessing, and aid to digestion, compared to the usual shouting and tears. I had to stay until everyone was finished, then wash the dishes, then finish my homework.

Sitting at a proper table with utensils and chairs and everything is the function of restaurants, with someone else doing the cooking, and washing up.

I am aware that many people would consider all this A Bad Thing, including my own little internal voice that also warns me to iron that shirt and sit like a lady. Well, we don't have room for a table. And despite trying for most of the last two decades, we've made little progress on slowing down eating.

We snuggle better on the couch. Very comforting.