So, my husband mentioned my lone birthday meal while he was at work because he's an extrovert and he finds it noteworthy, and one of the women in the room said that I must be cheating on him and said I'm not eating alone because no woman would ever eat alone on purpose on a normal day, let alone on her birthday. The empty beer glass in the photo was posited as proof that I was not actually alone. My husband and I have gotten a good laugh out of it. From what I know of her life and her world outside of work, her version of the story probably seems much more plausible, but in our world, not so much. The very idea that I would willingly complicate and dramatize my life is as inconceivable to me as eating alone is to her.
Last edited by Sistamatic; 08-07-2014 at 10:49 PM.
Die Logik ist keine Lehre, sondern ein Spiegelbild der Welt. Die Logik ist transcendental. - Wittgenstein
Possibly. I find that this equanimity helps me to further avoid complications and drama in my life. If you try to dispel this kind of talk, it is only taken as further proof...it's that "thou dost protest too much...hmmm" thing. If you are a reasonably attractive female in the deep south, pretty much everything you do and say gets a sort of nefarious spin by the people looking in. The fact that I'm married to a short guy further adds to the imaginary dynamic outsiders apply to us. I either have to limit myself and live by their rules (for example, to avoid causing talk, I could have decided not to write a book with my single male coauthor) or I can just learn to laugh at it. It does make me cringe if I choose to dwell on it too much, but as more and more years go by without any of the imaginary scandals emerging, people do start to see you in a better light.
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