Saturday, April 19, 2008
Couples Therapy
It's now two Fridays in a row that I've ended up in the same train car as a couple having a public and humiliating fight. This is of course entertaining, but also kind of horrifying, much like the transformation of Teri Hatcher's face.
Last week's couple began their fight on the platform and carried it with them on the train all the way to their destination. The man was talking in a very low voice so as to try to avoid embarrassment, which the woman countered by speaking loudly enough for people several blocks away to hear. The gist of their dispute was that the man had some kind of work obligation on their anniversary which would require him to postpone their celebration, and the woman viewed this as compelling evidence that he just didn't care about their relationship at all. Coincidentally, I believe that was also the subject of the Lincoln-Douglass debates. She was the clear winner, employing such time-honored techniques as 1) sitting silently and refusing to acknowledge him at all and 2) telling him not to touch her. Obama and Clinton could clearly take a lesson.
This week's argument was less amusing in that it became physical, but more amusing in that there was drunkeness involved. Actually, the term "argument" may not actually apply, as it consisted mainly of a wasted girl in full pink Cubs regalia smacking the heck out of her boyfriend until a couple of friends pulled her off him and off the train. She continued to scream obscenities at the train as it pulled away. I couldn't really get the thread of her thesis, but the words "dick" and "slut" were definitely involved. Obviously a communications major.
It's now two Fridays in a row that I've ended up in the same train car as a couple having a public and humiliating fight. This is of course entertaining, but also kind of horrifying, much like the transformation of Teri Hatcher's face.
Last week's couple began their fight on the platform and carried it with them on the train all the way to their destination. The man was talking in a very low voice so as to try to avoid embarrassment, which the woman countered by speaking loudly enough for people several blocks away to hear. The gist of their dispute was that the man had some kind of work obligation on their anniversary which would require him to postpone their celebration, and the woman viewed this as compelling evidence that he just didn't care about their relationship at all. Coincidentally, I believe that was also the subject of the Lincoln-Douglass debates. She was the clear winner, employing such time-honored techniques as 1) sitting silently and refusing to acknowledge him at all and 2) telling him not to touch her. Obama and Clinton could clearly take a lesson.
This week's argument was less amusing in that it became physical, but more amusing in that there was drunkeness involved. Actually, the term "argument" may not actually apply, as it consisted mainly of a wasted girl in full pink Cubs regalia smacking the heck out of her boyfriend until a couple of friends pulled her off him and off the train. She continued to scream obscenities at the train as it pulled away. I couldn't really get the thread of her thesis, but the words "dick" and "slut" were definitely involved. Obviously a communications major.
