(sassy, no?)
I've been so busy I haven't posted a story from 3 weeks ago that must be told. Let's begin with my evening with the Magentas.
Some context: Gary is my co-worker, Angela is his wife. I agreed to take family photos for them for their Christmas card. When said photos were done, I also agreed to help them design a Christmas card around the photo. They took me out to dinner, by way of bribery, and then the plan was to go to Kinko's to do the card.
That's the background. The event started out nice enough. We decided to go to La Shish for Fatoush salads. When we arrived it was pretty busy and I can assure you now that the Quinn's are not the only people who get a little testy when hungry. I know right now most of you think I'm talking about Gary - not so much.
After waiting about 15 minutes Angela started to notice that people who came in after us were being seated. She sent Gary to the hostess to find out what the problem was. Gary sheepishly went up (I know, hard to imagine)asked about it, was told that the hostess had forgotten us and we would be next.
Angela was on FIRE. Forgotten? And not even an apology? It gets worse. She saw them seating some other people who came in after us - a party of two. Gary assured her that they probably went ahead of us because we needed a bigger table for 3. She made him follow them (yes follow them) and see if they really were seated at a table for two. Bad news - they were not.
Needless to say, the rage continued to build and Gary was sent to the hostess a couple more times. Angela was ready to leave, but one last time she marched up to the hostess with daggers in her eyes and in all of her straight out of New Jersey glory. Luckily for the hostess, our buzzer went off right at that moment.
I thought it was over at that point and that we would just enjoy our meal, but I was wrong. Her anger was still white hot and was laced through the conversation during the meal. Angela was ready to throw down with the hostess, and frankly I'm surprised she didn't. I think my favorite moment was when Gary (in his new and surprising role as the calm, rational human) told Angela that sometimes you just have to meet people where they're at. Her retort? "I'll meet her where she's at! In the parking lot! Right after dinner!"
I liked this new twist on the Magenta personalities, but as an additional word of warning, do NOT ever give Angela lukewarm coffee either. When we went through the Starbucks drive-through after dinner, you should have seen how timidly Gary handed her the coffee cup when he felt that it wasn't that warm. He stammered, "Um..I'm..not sure..this is very..hot.." Did it go back? Oh yes, yes it did. Thankfully, the Starbucks girl was not offered the chance to meet outside for a parking lot brawl.
On to the Christmas cards and the true spirit of the holiday. For obvious reasons they chose the "Happy Holidays" message over "Peace on earth, good will to men."
I learned tonight that people are a lot like dogs. It's the little ones who nip at your heels that can be the most ferocious. It's not the size of the dog in the fight...
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The Elders
15 years ago
3 comments:
Ahhhhh, the true spirit of the season indeed. Thanks for the laugh.
Ahh! Nothing like a story of truth. How did you ever wait so long to tell it. Truly one we can all relate to.
When I first met Angela (my wife) she never cursed, never lost her cool, thought the sun set on me and didn't know what a salad was. Now it has all changed! 23 years later and she has taken her proper role as the latest in a long line of Magenta women who speak their mind....and all too often. My mother and my paternal grandmother both started out as mild mannered non-Magenta's but after a few years of husbands who spoiled them it all went wrong, terribly, terribly wrong.
Now the real truth, my wife is the most patient women in the world but most of that patience in used up on dealing with me which does not leave much for the outside world.
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