People, Use Some Common Sense!

As Karen mentioned in her comments to my previous post, we've had several unfortunate experiences, including two occurrences in the past few weeks, where we've sat next to a couple whose romantic dinner conversation flared into a heated argument. Michael Bauer recently wrote about some similar situations that he's experienced in his blog post about couples who break up over dinner.

To be fair to the women out there, it often seems to be the guys who escalate these dinner-time conflicts. At least this appears to have been the case in these most recent two occurrences. Guys, listen up. Here's a tip to help you avoid a spat in public: use some common sense. For example, when your date is visibly upset because you disagree with her political point of view, it doesn't help matters to continue to press her on it. Nor does it help if you stop responding her questions and tell her that you won't answer her because you feel that she is twisting your words. Make sense? Another example: Suppose your dining companion gets really pissed at you because it comes out that you've been sneaking around and hanging out with your blonde ex-girlfriend behind her back. In that case, it's really not a good time to tell her that you think that she would be more attractive if she got highlights or if she bleached her hair blonde.

Hello? McFly, anybody home?

(Yes, these were the actual arguments that we sat through.)

So, just use some common sense. Sure, this won't prevent all conflicts, but hopefully it will minimize the number that we have to endure. Your fellow diners, including the two of us, would appreciate it. Thank you very much.