Ever have awful Table mates?

[ontheweb]

8 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

I am not familiar with that passage - is it in any way connected with the advice that, if you come to a fork in the road, you should take it?

Ah, the wisdom of Yogi Berra.

[MicCanberra]

23 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

Ah, the wisdom of Yogi Berra.

Yep, The future ain’t what it used to be.

[kochleffel]

8 hours ago, navybankerteacher said:

And at dinner, on a ship at sea between two ports your immediate, effective action would be....

 

To text back with instructions, of course. The pet sitter's message would likely contain a veterinarian's recommendations and a request for approval. If I were in Europe, dinnertime would be during office hours in the U.S. and I would rather offend hypersensitive dinner companions than delay treatment.

 

I would excuse myself and reply from outside the dining room, but if you're going to be offended just because I paused to read one text at the table, take all the offense that you wish. Perhaps your polite upbringing and delicate sensibilities would be so gravely offended that you would have to leave the room or demand a change of table.

 

If that's the case, fine with me. It's not the same as texting throughout the meal.

 

[ontheweb]

8 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Yep, The future ain’t what it used to be.

No one goes there nowadays, it's too crowded.

 

Boy that one really applies to some ports when the megaships arrive.

 

https://ftw.usatoday.com/2019/03/the-50-greatest-yogi-berra-quotes

[navybankerteacher]

14 minutes ago, kochleffel said:

 

To text back with instructions, of course. The pet sitter's message would likely contain a veterinarian's recommendations and a request for approval. If I were in Europe, dinnertime would be during office hours in the U.S. and I would rather offend hypersensitive dinner companions than delay treatment.

 

I would excuse myself and reply from outside the dining room, but if you're going to be offended just because I paused to read one text at the table, take all the offense that you wish. Perhaps your polite upbringing and delicate sensibilities would be so gravely offended that you would have to leave the room or demand a change of table.

 

If that's the case, fine with me. It's not the same as texting throughout the meal.

 

A bit of a stretch.

[ducklite]

11 hours ago, kochleffel said:

I use text messages very infrequently, but if a text came in while I was at the dinner table, I would probably read it, because the only person likely to text me while I'm traveling is my pet sitter and she would only do so in an emergency.

Agreed. I stepped aside and took a call while on a tour of a major European church a couple of years ago.  It was my son who I knew was at the vet with my dog.  He put me on the phone with the vet and I had to make the agonizing decision of whether to put my 15 year old dog to sleep (he had been slowly going downhill over the previous six months and that morning could no longer stand up or walk) or prolong his life until I got home a few days later.  If anyone had a problem with that, I really didn't give a flying whatever.  Sometimes things happen that need to be managed at that moment, not in an hour, not in a week, but now.

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

15 hours ago, RocketMan275 said:

Tell them: Jesus prefers people drink wine or he wouldn't have turned the water into wine.  

But then they'll tell you that it really wasn't (alcoholic) wine, it was just grape juice. 

 

Yes, I did actually hear someone say that once. Luckily not at dinner on cruise ship. Unbelievable! 🙄

 

[RocketMan275]

11 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

But then they'll tell you that it really wasn't (alcoholic) wine, it was just grape juice. 

 

Yes, I did actually hear someone say that once. Luckily not at dinner on cruise ship. Unbelievable! 🙄

 

Yes, I've heard that claim as well but it's easily challenged by asking if Biblical wine was grape juice, then how did so many Biblical persons get drunk?

[VennDiagram]

We've had some wonderful table mates  who truly enhanced our cruise experience.  We remain in touch with some of them, and hope we can cruise with them again.   We had some tolerable table mates on other cruises.  And then, we've had  table mates  who were so appalling, we'd rather go hungry than share another meal with them 😉 Even some of the appalling ones were entertaining 😉

Because of the good/wonderful/fabulous ones we've met we continue to request large tables.

[CPT Trips]

9 hours ago, clo said:

I was joking.

 

I don't see attributing someone else's (Hiltner's) post to me is funny. 

 

[CPT Trips]

11 minutes ago, VennDiagram said:

We've had some wonderful table mates  who truly enhanced our cruise experience.  We remain in touch with some of them, and hope we can cruise with them again.   We had some tolerable table mates on other cruises.  And then, we've had  table mates  who were so appalling, we'd rather go hungry than share another meal with them 😉 Even some of the appalling ones were entertaining 😉

Because of the good/wonderful/fabulous ones we've met we continue to request large tables.

 

Car wrecks always attract attention. I guess it's deja vu all over again 😉

[Sea Hag]

On ‎6‎/‎19‎/‎2019 at 3:44 AM, ducklite said:

That could backfire with several countries.  India, China, and even the United States have multiple languages and dialects.  My neighbors are Chinese, the husband speaks fluent English but with a heavy accent.  The wife speaks some English--but with less of an accent (she's learning a lot of it from US television) and her parents can say three things in English--"Hi!,"  "Thank you!," and "Bye Bye!."  And yes, the exclamation points are there because that's how they speak the words.  🙂  

Very true. Many years back, we had some lovely neighbors who came from two different parts of India. Their common language that they spoke to each other was English.

[kochleffel]

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

But then they'll tell you that it really wasn't (alcoholic) wine, it was just grape juice. 

 

I know a winery owner who describes his product as "preserved grape juice."

 

[K32682]

Evidently some cruisers have certain expectations of their fellow table mates.  I am at the table to dine and should I quietly text, speak to my wife in another language, ignore vapid discussions of mundane topics, be unresponsive to tiresome bores, etc. that is my privilege and one that will be exercised at my discretion.   In return providing you are not obnoxious, bothersome, insulting or flatulent we shall get along just fine. 

[Rala]

On 6/17/2019 at 7:30 PM, MicCanberra said:

Love it, we have so much in common I am sure we would get on at the same table.

Let me know where you are cruising.  I want to be at your table, too!  LOL 🙂

[XBGuy]

11 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Albert Einstein: 'Peas cannot be kept by forks; it can only be achieved by understanding.'

 

Attributed to another certified genius, Ogden Nash:

 

I eat my peas with honey, I've done it all my life; It makes the peas taste funny, But it keeps them on the knife.

 

😁

 

And, to make sure I stay on topic, we usually dine alone.  The last time we dined with others was for a Princess Chef's Table dinner.  That reinforced our preference for dining alone.

Edited June 22, 2019 by XBGuy

[navybankerteacher]

3 hours ago, Sea Hag said:

Very true. Many years back, we had some lovely neighbors who came from two different parts of India. Their common language that they spoke to each other was English.

Sometimes the “common language” is a bit of a stretch.  In a Literacy Volunteers ESL program I worked with an Afghan who had been gotten out of Afghanistan (with his family) by the UN HCR because he had worked as a cargo plane pilot for the Russians and was a marked man.  He spoke Pashtun, Russian and a bit of French.  Our initial sessions in teaching him English were conducted in French.

[kochleffel]

I travel alone, and because I don't like to eat every meal alone, I request shared tables at dinner and sometimes at breakfast. My next cruise is on a line that is said not to do well with sharing tables in its version of anytime dining, so I've requested fixed seating there.

 

However, between this thread and the politics one--the bathrobe thread doesn't really concern me--I'm beginning to think that I should order room service for every meal, rather than risk not living up to someone else's standards.

[MicCanberra]

2 hours ago, XBGuy said:

 

Attributed to another certified genius, Ogden Nash:

 

I eat my peas with honey, I've done it all my life; It makes the peas taste funny, But it keeps them on the knife.

 

😁

 

And, to make sure I stay on topic, we usually dine alone.  The last time we dined with others was for a Princess Chef's Table dinner.  That reinforced our preference for dining alone.

Didn't John Lennon say - Give Peas a chance.

[VennDiagram]

1 hour ago, kochleffel said:

I travel alone, and because I don't like to eat every meal alone, I request shared tables at dinner and sometimes at breakfast. My next cruise is on a line that is said not to do well with sharing tables in its version of anytime dining, so I've requested fixed seating there.

 

However, between this thread and the politics one--the bathrobe thread doesn't really concern me--I'm beginning to think that I should order room service for every meal, rather than risk not living up to someone else's standards.

 

If you make that choice, "they" win.  😉  Don't let "them" win 😉

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, MicCanberra said:

Didn't John Lennon say - Give Peas a chance.

He did, but Yoko made him do it.

[MicCanberra]

23 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

He did, but Yoko made him do it.

Vegetarians hey.

[CPT Trips]

 Neither John nor Yoko were able to visualize whirled peas.

[davekathy]

6 minutes ago, CPT Trips said:

 Neither John nor Yoko were able to visualize whirled peas.

They could with kaleidoscope eyes. 😎✌️

 

[AL3XCruise]

2 hours ago, CPT Trips said:

Neither John nor Yoko were able to visualize whirled peas.

 

Personally I've never been a fan of peas.  I probably haven't had a pea in over a year.  When I tell people that they seem concerned...