My Unending Crusade

The great sage Alfred E. Neuman once said, "Every time I go to a ball game, I always get the same seat...between the hot dog vendor and his best customer."

I'm not saying there's a conspiracy among all those in charge of deciding where we will sit in restaurants, but it sure seems that no matter what table I find myself occupying, someone at some adjacent table has decided that all those in the restaurant (and that means the restrooms and the food preparation and storage areas as well) ought to be hearing everything they have to say.

We had a wonderful dinner yesterday, and when I looked across the table at my dear Peggy, I still had that same fluttery feeling as the first time she went with me to Friendly Farm. Of course, as a lifelong gourmand and bon vivant, I had been chowing down there for some time before I met Peggy. My eyes were full of naught but love, and my ears were being filled with dubious wisdom from the next table over, where Mr. Stentorian Bullhorn held forth on topics ranging from God's mercy ("it's for all of us!") and how many American males smoke cigars ("90%!") I did my usual head-spin-and-stare, for the usual two reasons - the thin hope that the Boomer would adjust the volume, and, also, to get a visual on a man who would actually sit in a restaurant and holler out things such as, "Any time someone says they are giving up a bad habit, you have to trust that they really intend to, but you still need to check up on them, ya know?" for the benefit of all.

One of the fellow diners of the Speaker Of The House engaged him in some sort of give-and-take in a desperate attempt to have everyone else stop craning their necks at their table, which resulted in the following colloquy:

Other guy: (can't tell you what he said because he said it a normal level)
SOTH: "Hebrews 13!"
OG: " "
SOTH: "Mark 1:12 thru 13!"

When their party left, it was like being in a factory when the drill press is shut down, and all of a sudden, the quiet is so sweet and so appreciated. I looked this one up so in case I see this fellow again, I can say, "Isaiah 41:1!" ("Keep silence before me, O islands; and let the people renew their strength.")