NOT THE BEST START TO A RELATIONSHIP!
Well believe it or not I actually really did do it! As mentioned in my blog last week I declared from Friday sundown to Saturday sundown all electronic devices including telephones, TV’s, radios and even use of the car were all banned. Of course this is not a new idea, many religions including my own Jewish faith dictates that at certain times of the week that time is given over to prayer and reflection. To be honest this is not quite what I had in mind, however I did spend time in the synagogue in New York as Friday was Yom Kippur which is a fast day. It was a bit strange being in new York, it was great to have two of my kids with me but again I missed my youngest Ilan who was in Israel at the time, but as I sat in the synagogue I did try and reflect on the past year and tried to think how possibly I could behave better in the year ahead.
Moving away from such introspective thoughts, I want to share with you an experience that I had - over the last two weeks we have been thrilled that our son Joshua has got engaged to a really fabulous girl called Inbal and last week our daughter Dalya, who is now living in New York, brought home her boyfriend of fairly recent times, Adam, to meet us. I am not particularly comfortable in this situation and Michele just gave me one piece of advice “Larry just don’t be yourself”. Do I ask him questions about his life? Are his salary levels important at this stage of the relationship? Do I warn him that he would experience a painful end if he upsets my beloved daughter? Do I dress formally or informally? hug him or shake his hand or, as the Europeans do, kiss his cheeks?
By the time they arrived it was really late and I was exhausted, dozing off in a pair of shorts, bare feet and a t-shirt. I was introduced to this very charming and presentable young man. I stuck out my hand to shake his hand which I thought was the sort of thing you did but got a hug from him which took me aback a little. We then began to enjoy a pleasant conversation only to be interrupted by his dog that he had brought with him. I am not particularly crazy about dogs, but as this puppy bounded about in our new apartment I was beginning to get very irritated as he kept trying to pull him off furniture. I magnanimously said leave the dog to run around, he’ll calm down. After a short time I needed to leave the room to collect something from the bedroom, I love having bare feet on our New York wooden floors which are so cooling, however as I walked in to our bedroom I felt a warm squelch under my feet as I stood in ... yes you guessed it. I called Adam in to the room and very kindly told him the relationship is over and could he clear up the mess. I calmly scraped off the shit, showered and then bid goodbye as he took a reasonably hasty departure. I’ll let you know how things go and in the meantime I am now wearing slippers in the apartment. Have a good weekend.
Moving away from such introspective thoughts, I want to share with you an experience that I had - over the last two weeks we have been thrilled that our son Joshua has got engaged to a really fabulous girl called Inbal and last week our daughter Dalya, who is now living in New York, brought home her boyfriend of fairly recent times, Adam, to meet us. I am not particularly comfortable in this situation and Michele just gave me one piece of advice “Larry just don’t be yourself”. Do I ask him questions about his life? Are his salary levels important at this stage of the relationship? Do I warn him that he would experience a painful end if he upsets my beloved daughter? Do I dress formally or informally? hug him or shake his hand or, as the Europeans do, kiss his cheeks?
By the time they arrived it was really late and I was exhausted, dozing off in a pair of shorts, bare feet and a t-shirt. I was introduced to this very charming and presentable young man. I stuck out my hand to shake his hand which I thought was the sort of thing you did but got a hug from him which took me aback a little. We then began to enjoy a pleasant conversation only to be interrupted by his dog that he had brought with him. I am not particularly crazy about dogs, but as this puppy bounded about in our new apartment I was beginning to get very irritated as he kept trying to pull him off furniture. I magnanimously said leave the dog to run around, he’ll calm down. After a short time I needed to leave the room to collect something from the bedroom, I love having bare feet on our New York wooden floors which are so cooling, however as I walked in to our bedroom I felt a warm squelch under my feet as I stood in ... yes you guessed it. I called Adam in to the room and very kindly told him the relationship is over and could he clear up the mess. I calmly scraped off the shit, showered and then bid goodbye as he took a reasonably hasty departure. I’ll let you know how things go and in the meantime I am now wearing slippers in the apartment. Have a good weekend.
