Aramaic and How to Fail at Dating

Friday night Hubby and I went out to eat. It's a regular thing for us to NOT eat at home on a Friday night. It's our little treat for ourselves at the end of a long week.

Sometimes we play the "where do you want to go? I don't know, where do you want to go?" game. But this week I knew exactly what I wanted, I was craving Chinese and when that's the case, there's only one place to go. For the last four or so years we've been going to the same little place in Hamilton Mill, Golden Palace Express.http://www.goldenpalaceexpress.com/aboutus.php  It's a small restaurant (only six tables) that does the majority of their business through takeout and delivery. We've tried a lot of different Chinese restaurants and this place, by far, is THE best Chinese food in town. Obviously we're not the only ones that think so because the restaurant is always busy and we often see the same faces each time we go.

My only complaint about eating there is, due to the small size, it's hard to maintain a sense of privacy. It never fails that while there we run into some annoying and obnoxious person. Sometimes it's someone talking on a cell phone, you know that person, the one who yells so loud you wonder why they're even bothering to use a phone. Other times it's the woman with the high pitched voice that makes you want to poke yourself in the eye with your fork chopstick. Or the man who reeks of self importance and appears to be strutting his stuff for everyone around him. And don't the forget the person who tells bad jokes and then laughs like a hyena. Ay yi yi, all I want is a nice dinner and pleasant conversation with my husband. Is that too much to ask for?

Anyway, back to our latest night out. We ordered our usual: one bowl of egg drop soup, one bowl of won ton soup,

one eggroll, one spring roll, fried rice and an entree of Hunan Chicken to share.

YUMMY! Along with our order came the couple who sat next to us. The guy seemed normal enough and didn't fall into any of the categories mentioned above. The woman, however, was another story. As soon as they sat down my annoyance radar went off.

She talked LOUD and was exuding an air of superiority. You know the person I'm talking about, it's not just the words being spoken (practically every sentence out of her mouth contained the words I, me, or mine) but also the tone in which they are relayed. Heck I wasn't even sitting at her table but was afraid to open my mouth for fear of being reprimanded. Consequently, Dale and I didn't talk much during our meal. Instead we resorted to listening in to their conversation and ..... making judgments observations.

My take: this was a date. She was trying to impress and he was just trying to get through it.

Dale's take: this was a father/daughter dinner. She was trying to impress and he was just trying to get through it.

I won't bore you with the details except one .... the talk turned to religion and Bible reading. Somewhere in the conversation he mentioned the word - Aramaic...and she corrected him, saying the correct pronunciation is ar-a-mic. And then she continued to spout some literature jargon which I assume was to make him believe she knew more than he did. He pulled out his smart phone and looked it up in the dictionary, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aramaic which clearly shows the pronunciation as "ar.a.ma.ic" . (on my link here you can even listen to the correct pronunciation) And you know what....that wasn't good enough for her! No, that's not right, it's "ar-a-mic" She repeated this to him two or three more times!

At this point it was all I could do to not jump in the conversation. But then, that wouldn't be very pc of me would it? I also thought about writing her a note on my napkin but I knew my husband would die if I did. So instead I'm coming on my blog to leave her this advice:

Dear Girl at the Golden Palace Express, 

An important life lesson can be learned from tonight. First, if he's a date, he's way to old for you. Second, if he's your father, you need to learn a little respect. Third, it's never in your best interest to claim to be smarter than your companion, especially after he pulls out irrefutable evidence. Fourth, learning a little humility and knowing when to admit you're wrong is a sign of maturity not a weakness. And, fifth and final point, learn to use an inside voice when eating in a restaurant, because really....the people around you don't care or want to hear your crap!" 

Sincerely,

 the Woman at the table next to you that really wanted a quiet dinner, not a lesson in how to be annoying!