Metamorphosism

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November 16, 2004

Things I learned over the weekend

  • You can't go wrong with a dark suit, at least in Vienna. Accept it. No need to experiment. If you feel overdressed, remove the tie.
  • Seriously, go with the suit.
  • If people remark on how well you speak German, change the subject. Under no circumstances should you agree with them: you can't go wrong with self-deprecation, or at least modesty, either.
  • Especially if you're drinking. After two drinks your language skills disintegrate.
  • Of course you find it difficult to talk to your kids, especially when they get big. Why shouldn't you? You still can't talk to your dad, either.
Posted at November 16, 2004 08:32 AM
Comments

Well, now that I'm over 40, talking to my Dad works. 4000 km distance between us help too.

"The love to one's family increases proportionally with the distance"

Posted by: TH at November 16, 2004 11:27 AM

My kids (both women) talk to me, but they are 43 and 38. It's nice to discover that your kids are genuine grown-ups--and that they find it interesting to talk to you as grown-up to grown-up. Of course, my tongue gets shorter day by day as I bite it to keep from taking the "I am your mother" approach."

Posted by: sue at November 16, 2004 11:53 PM

Wonder if she would be more likely to talk to me if I didn't turn everything she says into a Bug comic.

Posted by: mig at November 17, 2004 10:38 AM

mig, the more i think about this the more i think you're not talking about yourself but about people you observed breaking rules you already instinctively knew about.
like, do you even OWN clothes other than a dark suit? in my mind your closet is like a row of dark suits, with the only exception being those baggy butt-crack revealing sweats you shovel snow in.
and for self-deprecation in language? you're just so completely not the type to respond "damn straight i'm fluent; although of course german is easy."
and while i don't doubt the detrimental effect of the sweet, sweet booze-- still, it's not like a man who lists 3 separate drinks (Guiness, gin, and single malt) as his favorite is one who doesn't anticipate a flush of brilliance to be followed by a tongue-tied numbness.
AND the only reason it's hard to talk to beta is because you still really, really want to talk to her. a lesser man would have given up the second she hit puberty, and thus wouldn't even notice the awkward pause.

so, you dark-suited, modestly fluent, sweet talking papa type-- i think you're re-reading a book with which you are already familiar, which is more like a refresher course than "learning". anyway, you should take it easy on weekends. that's what i think.

Posted by: anne at November 17, 2004 03:44 PM
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