When couples go out socially, they're no longer people. They're couples. And couples don't talk like regular people.
They become teams. Little tag-team storytelling teams. He starts, she finishes. You correct each other, interrupt each other, and no one knows exactly who they should be listening to.
Ever been out with four or five couple? It's like the Conversation Olympics. Whatever subjects come up, every couple must compete.
"We had an experience like that, too." Then you step forward and tell your piteous little tale, and the conversation moves clockwise around the table, everyone telling their version of essentially the same damn story.
By the time it gets to the semifinals, it gets very tough. Your story has to be more interesting than the last couple. If Couple Number One lost their luggage in Mexico, Couple Number Two lost their luggage and their passports.
Couple Three has to beat that. "We lost our luggage, our passports and our. . . house was stolen, too. And our children! The whole family, everything. We called American Express and we got new kids the next day. . . two girls and a boy, so it worked out well--but for a while there, we were quite alarmed."
Me and my husband? We just always seem to have food in our mouths when it appears to be our turn. It's so much more fun to just listen.
