It turns out I'm unstoppable at Bookworm Adventures.

[byelka58]

The last twenty percent or so of this most recent absence is, I'm relieved to report, not my fault. It's Stefka's. She sent me an email that included the following: Nothing much to report otherwise. I guess I'm the only person in the department who hasn't passed at least one of the required field exams at this point. The beauty of my relationship

Comments

I can do uncomfortable.

[nebula_335]

Your story about the inappropriately-confessional caller reminds me of a lunch meeting I had with a vendor in the early fall. We were talking (as people normally do at lunch), when he pulled out a picture of his sons. Someone (probably me) made the mistake of asking how old they were. The result was that the younger one was four or five and had done "the funniest thing" the other day.

Apparently, you see, the parents take showers with their sons. No, I don't know how they explain the difference in anatomy between mommies and daddies. Well, this particular time, Daddy and son were showering when the son discovered the need to urinate. Daddy told the little boy to go ahead and do his business, that it was ok to pee in the shower. This all would have been fine had the little boy not done the same thing the next day...when he was showering with his mother. She doesn't appear to be quite as progressive when she's naked with her five-year-old. What a prude.

Anyway, the guy then goes on to tell us that his son got very interested in where poop goes when it gets flushed down the toilet. The mere description was not satisfactory - they actually had to take a trip to the local water treatment plant. Trust me when I say I'm leaving out most of the colorful language.

Needless to say, I was horribly uncomfortable the whole time, and I could not physically stop myself from putting my face in my hands when he got to the part about bodily functions in the shower. Are there no standards for lunch-time conversation any more? It makes me long for the days of discussing the dismemberment of deer. That was class.

[byelka58]

Boy, do I know what you mean about the meal-time standards. I don't know how people got the idea that I don't mind hearing about their sex lives in public, but: WE CAN TALK ABOUT THAT LATER, OKAY? WHEN WE ARE MORE THAN FOUR FEET FROM PAYING STRANGERS.

I've never had that experience with a salesperson, though, and for that I am grateful. Did you end up buying his whatever-lyst?

[nebula_335]

Yeah, he doesn't really have any competitors. It was pretty much a done deal, although I still think it was also bad manners.