Dinner Party Jitters - Calm me down please! (vent)

[Ellen]

Date: 9/5/2007 9:34:07 AM
Author: Independent Gal
I didn''t take any shots. I swear.

But I did volley a couple back across the net, if you know what I mean. He made some rude comments and for once in my life, I managed a couple of witty come-backs....on the spot instead of thinking of them the next morning! He is truly a class 1 a-hole. I do not like him ONE LITTLE BIT! Other than that I tried to be nice and charming though, for FI''s sake.

The party was ok, if a bit long. Who wants to keep chatting after 5 hours? Time for bed people! Let''s get moving! There were two other couples there. One couple I knew from before who are so sweet and VERY interesting. The other couple were very engaging too. He does something with Turkish music and she plays piano. Their son is becoming a pilot and they kept making little ''we''re ashamed'' noises, which I thought was beyond weird. What could be more awesome than being a PILOT!!!! I mean, can you say chick-magnet? Oh, and you get to fly planes everyday. Sounds good to me. Sign me up. There''s a career change I could live with.

Good for you. And yes, comebacks are always so much more effectual when thought of AT the time, instead of later.

(been there, done that)



And uh, yeah, a pilot is nothing to sneeze at for God''s sake.

 

[Independent Gal]

Thanks Ellen!

Yeah, maybe it''s just the way I was raised, but the idea that parents would EVER express disappointment in their kids'' career choice - especially publicly - is just strange to me. I mean, my parents are proud of me, sure! But they''re equally proud of my brother who''s a practically starving freelance creative comedy writing guy. They''re proud of me because of my hard work and success. They''re proud of him because of his integrity and determination to succeed at what he loves, even if he''s poor while he''s at it. You can always find something to be proud of in your kids, as long it''s about THEM and not about YOU.

At least, that''s how I was raised.

My cousin (female) is a firefighter and my uncle is all

. OK, so she didn''t get a college degree. But come on, how awesome is it that she is saving LIVES! That''s so much more impressive than a load of BS (Bachelor of Science of cousre). And being a groundbreaker for women in that profession too! There is always plenty to be proud of if parents choose to see it and don''t have preconceived ideas of what their children should be.

 

[neatfreak]

IG, I am kind of late to this thread, but if I had to theorize on this, I would say that man is TOTALLY threatened by you.

I mean many men just can''t handle smart women. Esp. smart women who I assume have more degrees than the a-hole?

Saying to your FI "Why doesn''t she go to law school" is the ONLY shot he has to try and make you feel bad. He''s desperately trying to find something to attack you about, so he went with the "haha she spent so much time in school and has so many degrees she might as well get another one" shot because that is all he has.

As another woman working on her Ph.D. currently, I have heard other people make comments like this to me. Bosses. Men. Generally people who think they are "above" me but feel threatened by my intelligence and degrees. This guy sounds just like one of those people to me.


You should be proud to be a smarty pants! And I''m very glad that you were able to lob a few over the net back at him, I always think of comebacks too late as well...