Saturday, January 26, 2008

Refined

When it comes to social situations, I consider myself a solidly above average type person. My mama and pops raised me right and I know how to be a gracious hostess as well as a good guest. I pride myself in making my friends feel welcome, comfortable, and appreciated. Bottom line, I am not a rudester.

But you know, sometimes. My mouth gets ahead of me. And I embarrass myself. And when I do, I have to add to that embarrassment by telling people about it. So here I am, broadcasting my bad behavior. Sorry, mom. I mean well.

I have an awesome co-worker, who has now become my awesome neighbor, along with her enfianced. In previous posts, I have called these two H and R, although I am now seeing that reading initials in blog posts can be kind of a drag, so I shall have to come up with some sort of nicknamery for all the people I have been calling by their initials. I have nothing handy for these two right at this moment, but as I keep typing something will pop out of my brain I am sure.

So our awesome neighbors invited us over for dinner this weekend. And so we went. And it was so nice. Despite the arctic winds outside, all was cozy and fun and delicious and a nice way to get over the grumpy pants mood I had been in all week. They made us salad, and soup, and risotto to warm up our bellies. There were placemats. And napkin rings! We felt very special indeed. Not only that, but when we arrived, brownies were being baked so as to be warm and fresh for us after dinner!

It's really easy to be a good guest with gracious hosts like these. One would think.

After dinner, we chatted and yukked it up for a couple of hours. And then it was time to head home. We bundled up in our coats and said our fond farewells to Hopscotch and Rambo (whoa. Where did THOSE nicknames come from? Hopscotch and Rambo? What is wrong with my brain? Oh well, that's what popped out, so Hopscotch and Rambo it is. Tra la la, Hopscotch and Rambo. I should totally be a celebrity so that I can name my children names like this, shouldn't I?) And as we did so, a thought occurred to me. We hadn't eaten any brownies. And here's where my mind went.

In all the fun we were having, we forgot to have dessert. If we leave now, Hopscotch and Rambo (oh dear god those nicknames) are going to go back into their kitchen, see that we all forgot dessert, and be all DAMN. I mean, if I had people over for dinner, and I made them brownies and then forgot to serve them, I would feel bad, right? So maybe I should do them a favor so that they won't have to feel bad later, right?

And then I opened my mouth and said this.

"How about a brownie for the road?"

That's right people. I DEMANDED my brownie. What the hell? What would possess someone to repay hospitality with this kind of behavior? We all forgot about the brownies, big deal. Shut up about it. Say thanks for the lovely evening and get yourself home. Only, honestly, I didn't mean it as a demand. I meant it as a favor. To them. So that they wouldn't feel bad later. And so that their brownies-for-guests efforts wouldn't go to waste.

Really, it made sense in my head at the time.

Of course, Hopscotch and Rambo (ok, now it's just sounding funny) were super gracious and cut us a big hunk of brownie to take home with us. And as soon as we left the house Nordic Boy looked at me and said "'How about a brownie for the road'? Really?" to which I said "I KNOW. I AM SO RUDE."

It comes from a good place. It really does.

Sigh.

I'm out,
Librarian Girl

16 comments:

Megan said...

ummm, hello...brownies make us do funny things. Kinda like a legal form of crack. You can't be held responsible when brownies are involved.

Jan Ross said...

I give my guests food "for the road" all the time. And I would have been annoyed if I had found the unserved dessert after my guests left. So, I think you are fine. They probably thought nothing of it. And they love your little quirks anyway. Not that you have any. I'm not saying that.

Anonymous said...

I was invited to an improvised Christmas dinner and baked blondies for my hostess. We neither ate them while I was there, nor did I hear that they were eaten (and delicious). The person is not a close friend and has been going through some personal trauma recently, and all I can think about is did you like my goddamned cookies? and at this point, Can I just get my plate back? Is this wrong?

I think getting some brownies to go is not the rudest thing I've ever heard of anyone doing. I myself feel devastated after I have said something that didn't come out the way I meant it, but I don't think anyone really dwells on these things. Reciprocate and invite them for dinner and serve dessert first, and then send them home with individual portions of salad.

Claire said...

hehe, me likey. Might have to try that line myself next time I'm wanting the cakes.

Sarah said...

Oh I think you were totally right to ask for them to go! I am sure that if they had thought of it, they would have packed them up for you too. Plus, you had very few options here. I mean, you could take off all your coat and what not to sit back down and eat a brownie, or you could ask for the doggie bag....clearly not eating a brownie was totally out of the question!

LisaBe said...

i say amen to megan and k. brownies make lots of things legal that aren't otherwise.

Katie Kiekhaefer said...

I agree with megan--brownies make us do craaazy things. And here's my line of thinking: as you said, you're very socially appropriate in real life so I'm sure your hosts (Rambo and Hopscotch has a great ring to it) were charmed that you would notice the brownies and want one. And besides, no one wants to hang out with someone who's always on. That's just no fun (and it leads to boring blogs :))

Maddie said...

If you google "rambo hopscotch" your website is the first to pop up. I don't know why I decided to google that...

Anonymous said...

Haha, I'm sure they were just grateful to be reminded they hadn't yet served them. And also that you liked the food so much you were still looking forward to dessert!

Brown Sugar said...

I would ask too...how can you NOT ask...! Nothing rude there hunny..

cadiz12 said...

i'm with jen. i'm sure hopscotch already knows you're a lovely person or else you'd never have been considered fresh brownie-worthy in the first place.

but i totally know how you feel. i said something ridiculous two weeks ago and flagellated myself for nearly 12 hours before H made me call the person i thought i offended, who just said, "oh, i have known you for way too long to believe you meant that in a bad way. i love you."

maybe you should just apologize and hear hopscotch tell you you're ridiculous. it'll feel almost as good as eating fresh brownies.

Sauntering Soul said...

The funniest thing about your post is the fact that Nordic Boy called you out on it as soon as you walked out the door. But I bet he's glad you asked for a brownie. He didn't turn it down did he?

Dallas Diaries said...

You know, if I saw those brownies had nuts in them from the beginning, I would leave little subtle hints all through dinner.

Like: hi hopscothch, howis your work? Do they serve you freahly baked brownies there?

Or: Hey Rambo. When you're watching the Superbowl on Sunday, would you watch it with... say, freshly baked brownies?

Xteener said...

Is it just me or did everyone go out and buy a box of brownie mix after reading this?

librarianista said...

But your reasoning was TOTALLY ACCURATE. I would truly have been bummed if I had denyed you brownies, after the smell of brownies had been wafting out of the kitchen all evening. (How I forgot the brownies in the first place is the real question, but I digress.)

The point: asking for brownies was polite, because you were saving ME from embarrassment. And that is what good manners are for!

--Hopscotch

p.s. Rambo is going to LOVE his new nickname.

Anonymous said...

Oh God I hate it when I say stuff like that! But I always think it's funny (in a good way) when other people do. :)