After a wacky
air-head hitch in which I went an hour early to pick up my friend R for our
Tuesday exercise class, and then had to return one hour later, we finally got
to the neighboring town’s Senior Center as people were setting up chairs. The
class involves a lot of aerobic step work but uses chairs for some of the
weight lifting portion.
Everyone had
arranged their chairs in a big circle, but one woman had pulled hers farther
out. R asked her if we were in her way but she said no, she liked to be in the
outer portion for more room.
“Everyone has
their favorite spot, don’t they?” commented R.
We discussed
classes we’d taken or seminars we’d attended and how you needed to think long
and hard about where you chose to sit on that first day. There might as well be
brass plates attached to them the way everyone always gravitates to the same
spot on succeeding days.
As we spoke,
I had an immediate flash of sitting in my particular spot at my parents’ dining table in Virginia,
my sister always across from me.
Then I was teleported to the dining
room in Tulsa, my grandfather at
the head, Granny to his left, my sister next to her, and my mother and me on
the other side.
My own kids always had their
particular side of the dining table across from each other, perfectly
positioned for tormenting the other or making him/her crack up and spew milk
midway through the meal.
Maybe now this whole concept is
probably hopelessly outdated. I wonder how many families really sit down at
home and have an actual meal at a table together.
we did though our daughter's family was sort of hit or miss. I don't remember if we always sat in the same place at dinner but growing up our family always did...father at one end, mother at the other, older sister and younger brother on one side, me on the other. I sat by myself because apparently I couldn't get along with my siblings. as for preferred places at gatherings, I like to be up front and will always choose that if I get there early enough. I suppose it's a habit ingrained from school where the teachers sat us alphabetically. with a last name that started with Abb I always sat in the first seat of the first row.
ReplyDeleteWe used the same seats in my childhood, and I'm trying to remember them. I'm close. I remember my own adulthood and my children. And, I remember Ellen's school seating problem. With Ly, I generally was dead center.
ReplyDeleteI was a W and sat behind Leni Veitch for years. After marriage I became a D and moved up in the world - if I were still sitting in assigned seats, that is!
DeleteI'm sure there must be at least one family somewhere who still sits at a table for meals together.
ReplyDeleteI tend to be the mobile one when the kids visit. If it's both, I sit at the foot. If it's just him I sit on the left where she usually sits. Opposite if it's just her. When daughter is here with them, then she gets the foot, I get the head and Sue shifts left one beside Danica. Sometimes Sue and I reverse though.
ReplyDeleteWe are creatures of habit aren't we? Or I am. Right down to always sitting on the same seat on a bus when I can.
ReplyDeleteWe still sit around the table fairly often. We have our spots when it's the four of us (me, husband, son, daughter), but things change a bit if there is a fifth (boyfriend / girlfriend / mother in law). -Jenn
ReplyDeleteYour last sentence is key. Snoopy old me, I rarely see neighbors bring home groceries.
ReplyDeleteThese days we have so much more flexibility. The seating is freer and occaisions may decide how it will pan out. But in the end most sit somewhere and maybe beside a loved one or just a new face. I teresti g how all our ways are varied now.
ReplyDeleteWhen I grew up we always sat down for dinner together. But these days, not so much. I laughed when I thought about "my" spot in exercise class. :-)
ReplyDeleteDave and I usually eat on the sofa, but it's no different -- we have our favorite spots! (As does Olga.)
ReplyDeleteWe (family) mostly eat in restaurants and thus traditions have fallen away. For somet this is good and for others not a concern.
ReplyDelete