Blowing hard

Last night we went out to dinner at a place that has been closed for over a year. It was located in the city and the landlord was a jerk who kicked them out. The landlord has since been convicted of fraud and sentenced to multiple decades in jail, so my using the word jerk really isn’t out of line.

Anyway, the restaurant has reopened in Northside and the food is still delicious. We had been in the space many years ago and I have to say they’ve done nice things with it by keeping the old character but livening things up with a beautiful tiled bar. The chairs are much more comfortable too. Yeah, it’s a weird thing to remember but I like a longish seat on a chair and if I don’t get it I keep that information tucked away forever.

Now, for the real reason for this post. A table of four sat down behind us and it seemed like things were going to be OK because they were interested in the wine offerings (a seriously good wine list) and sharing of appetizers. The group sounded very much like when we go out with our good friends. But, alas, that was not to last.

Because one of the women was a complete blow hard and at one point I really wanted to turn around and tell her to shutthefuckup. Here are some things she said and I suspect you’ll begin to hate her a little too:
I play for the symphony. I’m a principal. (to the waiter)
There was my $3500 saddle not strapped down to the horse. (to her companions)
The ceiling fan had to be hardwired into the house. (isn’t that generally how it works)
We had to work around his schedule but he was really cheap. (on getting an electrician to do some side work so they didn’t have to pay his employer)

Now, I know the electrical work isn’t really punch-in-the-face worthy, but after a good 20 minutes of her prattling on it was time for punching. Her dinner companions were pretty silent the whole time. The crap about being a principal in the symphony had absolutely nothing to do with anything other than showing off to the waiter who could have cared less. And, the $3500 saddle that was in jeopardy was just pretension. It had nothing to do with the entertainment value of the story.

When we got up to leave, her husband had a pained look on his face. I just smiled the smile of pity and kept on walking.

We have someone like that in our family and after awhile you forget that she’s a nice person because the wall of sound coming from her just makes you want to move away from her as quickly as possible.