Bad manners is just bad manners
Afternoon and Evenings
His farming uncle used to bring a gun to the table every Sunday, for honor, he said. His aunt would bring a saucepan. Protection from the gun, she said, for God had told her she was needed. He didn’t care much for God. She didn’t care much for plants.
The table grew over the years as children came and went. The war veteran with a daisy. A son with a suffrage sign. A girlfriend wearing Issey Miyake. Colorful meals for years — until an in-law overcooked the chicken. Stringy.
Uproar. Slogans pierced the air, daisies flew from hair, gunshots pinged the pan, and tragically, a sign impaled the aunt. Silence. They all limped out and never talked much after. Truth be told, without that dinner, the family died in all but name.
Most relatives were happy for a while. Less bothered they stood taller. But their grandchildren heard the stories and loved the family idea.
So they gathered all on Thursday evenings. Ground rules: shoes off, props outside, food delivered. It lasted a couple of weeks.
Turns out no one had much else to talk about.
“But the truth is, these savages have an innate sense of delicacy, say what you will; it is marvelous how essentially polite they are.” Moby Dick
“The five main virtues of the medieval knight might be brought in here. One is temperance, another is courage, another is love, another is loyalty, and another is courtesy.” The Power of Myth
“Well, one must be serious about something, if one wants to have any amusements in life. I happen to be serious about Bunburying. What on earth you are serious about I haven’t got the remotest idea. About everything, I should fancy. You have such an absolutely trivial nature.” The Importance of Being Ernest
“Back then I’d thought social justice drama was a college phenomenon, but here I learned everyone was doing it, politicizing in truth he bad faith what were obviously just bad manners.” Rejection
“Loring swung around to her and raised the gloves. Wade stepped in front of him. “Take it easy, Doc. Around here we only hit our wives in private.” The Long Goodbye
Three new novels added:
