8/26/07

Procrastination and Consideration

Well I started this posting a couple days ago and never posted it. I always start out with good intentions but let it go and then one day blends into another and soon I have forgotten about it totally. But now I will post it. Not that there are more than three or four people who ever read this blog anyway.

Yesterday [Aug. 22] Pat and I went out to dinner for our 37th anniversary. That is probably a topic for another posting. We went to Julia's (owned by one time Red Sox and Met player John Valentin) in the Highlands, not to be confused with Atlantic Highlands, because it was a restaurant we had never been to, and it sounded like a good place for an anniversary dinner. You would think that Atlantic Highlands would be the town nearer the "Atlantic", but NOOOO, it is the other way around, and the way I remember which is which is that Atlantic Highlands is home of the Atlantic Cinema. But I digress, which is not unusual. The interior of Julia's has a bar along one wall, then a half wall separating it from the dining area which has tables running along the half wall and the other wall of the room. We were seated on the outside wall, with me with my back to the wall. There were two other occupied tables which was par for a Wednesday night at most restaurants. After we had chosen our wine, and placed our orders, and toasted our 37th, I looked toward the door to see a young couple come in with a little girl about two. Uh-oh. They were seated opposite us and the little girl was a little loud, not whining or anything, but just loud. The acoustics of the place lend itself to echoing, and I imagine when all the tables are filled it is a bit noisy. But that was not yesterday. I saw them placed their order for wine, and the little girl was constantly being loud, and in the quiet it was very disconcerting. Not a way we wanted to spend a nice romantic dinner. But then a very strange thing happened. I saw the couple talking seriously, the father got up and went toward the back of the restaurant, came back to the table and the three of them got up and left, saying something to the hostess as they left. I did hear the mother say that she didn't think it was as fancy a place as it was. I almost wanted to go up to them to thank them for being so considerate of other the other diners. It was very refreshing to see that. I hope they had a nice dinner with their daughter somewhere else that evening.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy anniversary, belatedly

Anonymous said...

Yeah, that's pretty cool, Ray. Many younger, and many older people, too, are really out of touch with time and place and their actions seem to indicate that they have the right to be and do anything anywhere anytime they want. I know I have that attitude sometimes. Thanks for sharing as this was a pause for thought.
Congratulations to you both on your anniversary. We just watched some of the famous "home movies" this week with Ethan, and the wedding was part of what we saw. Thirty-seven, wow!

Lauren Clerkin said...

Was the place really too fancy for them to be there??
Never knew the difference between the two "Highlands".

ray said...

Lauren, yes the place was too fancy. If you had asked me if it was a place you and Dave could have taken the kids, or even just Dylan, I would have told you no. I think when you have children at that age you should go to places that are family friendly and where people will expect some noise from youngsters.