Overheard in...: An Italian Restaurant

The "Overheard In..." category for the blog recalls snippets of conversation I happened to stumble across that for some reason stand out as indicative of cultural differences, or cultural issues I'm trying to understand. (And all subtly prove that reality is stranger than fiction.)

---------------------

The Setting: A nice Italian restaurant in Menlo Park, California, right off the main drag. I'm sitting with my parents having dinner on a recent visit. A Monday night.

The Characters (6): (1) A woman in her late thirties, dyed blond hair, sitting at the table behind us with (2 and 3) two men, professional, mid-thirties, just getting off work, wearing slacks and dress shirts, one with a goatee; (4-6) Me and my folks.

The Scene:

Woman: So, do you really think body is more important than the face?

Man #1: Definitely.

Man #2: Yeah, of course.

Woman: Really. Even in the long term?

Man #1: Honey, who's thinking about the long term?

(pause. Their conversation gets quieter so I can' t hear. Eventually she cuts in again.)

Woman: But going back to the face thing-- I mean, don't you think you can tell a lot from a woman's face?

Man #2: Look- when you're doing the dirty, you can ignore her face, but you can never, ever ignore the body, can you?

Woman: No I guess not. (Beat.) That makes sense.

Man #2: Don't worry about it. You've got nothing to worry about.

(Conversation dies down again. My mom and I have both been eavesdropping on this conversation (the apple doesn't fall far from the tree). We give each other knowing smiles. )