"Excuse me..."

We went out for dinner on the weekend—just the two of us. I'm not the world greatest cook so we tend to eat out fairly regularly.

Oh, yes siree, I've sure had my share of near apocalyptic disasters in the kitchen, mostly when we've invited guests over, but at least I can say they're not always my fault. I remember one evening when I'd stuck a roast in the oven and it started emitting an odd smelling smoke. I foolishly and certainly rather optimistically assumed it was just something that I'd burnt onto it the last time I'd cooked. Alas, a half hour before our guests arrived, I went to check the roast and the oven had checked out!

Over the years, however, with the love and support of my darling partner I have managed to overcome the embarrassment of culinary failures. Now when guests come to dinner I've got him cued to say things like: "Alex, this simply delicious! It's cook exactly the way I like it!" So, even if it's raw, charred, or just simply didn't turn out how it was suppose to, our guests always assume, "Well, obviously Alex prepared it the way John likes it—can't blame her for that."

Ah, but I digress...

So, we were out for dinner on the weekend—a nice little place with soft music and lighting. We were perusing the menu when a party of eight came in and sat down a couple of tables away from us. Within minutes of being seat they were talking so loudly we were forced to endure their entire and entirely vapid conversation, peppered with raucous laughter each time one of them made an, obviously in house, joke. I felt like leaning over and calling out to them, "Excuse me, but we didn't quite understand what you meant, would you mind explaining it to us all?"

It was as if they'd forgotten where they were and that there were other diners nearby, and so they could treat the restaurant as their very own private dinning room. Needless to say, it only got worse as the evening wore and they consumed an inordinant quality of alcohol.

Now, don't get me wrong here, I'm all for people having a good time when they dine out but why is that some are just so obviously oblivious to other diners, and so inconsiderate and incapable of comprehending that others may not be as entertained and amused by their loud and obnoxious behavior as they seem to be?