Our lunch conversation wandered around. What did "F-A-B" stand for on Thunderbirds, that was one topic. Steve had slandered Marcia on Twitter. Aborted fetuses in artificial sweetener. Pythons eating alligators. Things we heard on the news. I mentioned that game they have in Southeast Asia now called "Angry Brides" that discourages dowries.
That story caught my eye because it seemed shed light on what happened with the Nephew's first wife, a girl from a Kashmiri family, who died of suicide.
The group at work know the context and weren't as utterly bummed out as most of you are right now. I know. And that is where I made my mistake at lunch.
See, I was comparing this news story about brides in Southeast Asia and how it paralleled the Nephew's bride in Kansas City, when a woman from a neighboring department approached our table to sit down. She said hi to everyone, put down her stuff and was sitting down just as I resumed the conversation -
"So we didn't consider it a dowry suicide ..."
She was sitting down during the sentence, her rear hit the chair on "suicide," and she stood back up like she was a yo-yo on a string. While we said "Wait - stop!" she swept her stuff off the table and left.
She tossed, "You scared me off" at me, and then when others tried to get her to come back claimed she just wanted to say hi to a guy at a table over there.
Alan suggested it was a good thing she hadn't sat down during the aborted fetus / sweetener conversation, she would have left burn marks on the carpet.
Her loss. That is some seriously fascinating lunch conversation fodder. One would think that sentence would have plastered her bottom to the chair with a "Do tell!"
Posted by: Mare | February 01, 2012 at 04:01 AM
Some people are so sensitive. Eesh.
Posted by: Becs | February 01, 2012 at 04:35 AM
Um, you did all understand that there are no aborted fetuses in artificial sweeteners, right?
It refers to an old stem cell line being used to test sweeteners. This is a case of flash words being used for emotional effect to inflame people - i.e., propoganda.
Posted by: ~~Silk | February 01, 2012 at 10:44 AM
Oops - "propoganda" should be "propaganda". Duh....
Posted by: ~~Silk | February 01, 2012 at 12:47 PM
So she's among the ranks of the criminally incurious. I wouldn't have been able to leave even if I'd wanted to - I always have to know. It's not good.
Posted by: allison | February 01, 2012 at 01:18 PM
I can't believe I ate at my desk today. Who was it???
Posted by: Caroline | February 01, 2012 at 10:36 PM
Mare - She might be one of those "TMI" people. I don't know. I see this woman in the elevator all the time too.
Becs - Well, I was thinking about it today, and suicide is so prevalent, it might have hit close to home. I always worry when waiters offer "Choclate Suicide" cake.
~~Silk - That wasn't obvious?
Allison - Oh, I think it's good to be curious. Even morbidly.
Caroline - Jackie Macklesomething. Important enough I recognized her name.
Posted by: TheQueen | February 02, 2012 at 12:48 AM
Damn! I missed it!
Posted by: Hot Mom | February 02, 2012 at 07:48 PM
Hot Mom - Yes! You need to eat earlier!
Posted by: TheQueen | February 02, 2012 at 11:18 PM