I took myself out to a lovely lunch today at the Cafe at Chez Panisse. It was my first visit since they remodeled and the rooms felt much the same to me, much like eating in a Berkeley home with all the wood, hard benches and the feeling that you are suspended in the trees.
What I did not love about my lunch as listening to the conversation carried on by the ladies lunching next to me. I was not trying to listen, but the seats are quite close together and I was entertaining myself, so I had a book but not much else to keep me occupied. I suppose I could have live tweeted it like the woman who documented to a couple breaking up on her flight she witnessed in real time.
I heard more about polyps, mammograms, ungrateful and directionless adult children (hmm) and the tribulations of being the spouse of a trial lawyer that I had anticipated when I sat down. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure my conversations would bore you to tears, but I am not likely to discuss my upcoming colonoscopy while dining in a public place, especially when sound travels and we're sitting cheek by jowl.
For me it was also a reminder that polite conversation should avoid politics and polyps, especially while dining in public spaces.
Lunch, by the way was outstanding.
