One Hundred Things My Mother Taught Me A Million Times - Chapter 3

#3 - "Never accept the first table the host tries to give you at a restaurant."

I remember this being one of those things my mother did that embarrassed me when I was a child. Now it is something I do that embarrasses my husband. I rarely accept the first table offered by a restaurant host. It's not an arbitrary "snob" thing; it's because, just like mom said, hosts try to get rid of the worst tables first - the one by the bathroom, the one by the service area, or the one by the entrance where you spend your meal looking at other people's behinds while they wait for their table.

I'm not worthy to touch the hem of Malcolm Gladwell's garment, (Blink, Tipping Point, Outliers) but he and I do share a fascination with human nature, so I have a couple of observations about this issue of the crappy table - the prime distinction between Malcolm and I being his observations are researched while mine are gut reactions. Malcolm gives gut reactions great credit in his book Blink, so I feel justified. Besides, it's my blog. CLICK ON READ MORE BELOW...

Word of The Day - Aphorism

The word of the day is aphorism, which is "a succinct statement expressing a general opinion or truth." Of course I have always knows what aphorism meant, simply by the context in which it is used, and the "-ism" (note the Sue-ism in the left column) is a dead giveaway, but I never use this word and being a lover of cool words, I really love aphorism (even though it sounds like a medical condition). I ran across an aphorism this morning in a Conde Naste magazine article about New York Yankees (baseball team) owner, George Steinbrenner III, who is said to have loved aphorisms, one of his favorites being "The speed of the pack is determined by the pace of the leader." Gal-howdy do I love that aphorism, and I'll tell you why in a minute, but first, I want to talk about this and other magazine articles that are in a collection that comes out every year called The Best American Series.

One Hundred Things My Mother Taught Me A Million Times - Chapter 2

#2 - "Always wear clean underwear. You never know when you could be in a wreck or get sick and have to go to the hospital."

A reoccurring theme of  ‘one hundred things my mother taught me a million times’ is the uncertainty of life. As I pondered this inclination, my first reaction was that my mother's generation had such a hard life that they became wary and paranoid. Two world wars, the depression, having to fight for the right to vote, prohibition - I can see how swimming through all of that would tend to make you cautious.

But then I looked back on my own history. The Vietnam War looms large in my memory, an icon of horror, futility and heart-stomping reality. Then there were the gut-churning conflicts of race and the flood of drugs constantly beckoning to a youth desperately seeking a haven from the harshness of life. It is a freaking wonder we ever left the house - clean knickers or not. Click on Read More Below...