An Hour And A Half!
A weekly commentary by 60 Minutes II correspondent Charles Grodin.
Lately, because we had some family and friends visiting, I got out more to restaurants, and I came to the conclusion that I wish dinner would last no longer than an hour and a half.
To keep the peace, I might go to an hour forty-five, but honestly, give me that hour and a half at the table. When I told my brother my thoughts on this, he said, "Yeah, well, you've always been more edgy than most people." I said, "I prefer restless to edgy," but he said, "No, edgy."
I think there's a lot of us edgy men around. Sometimes when the dinner drags on past my hour and a half cutoff point, and I'm out in the parking lot hanging around near my car, I'll notice another guy or two hanging around near their cars.
I don't like sit-down dinners or name cards or all these rules which, of course, offends all the people who do. I feel we have enough rules just for everyday living. Frankly, I still haven't gotten over the grammar school rule of "single file, no talking."
In the past, movies with intermissions used to scare me. I can watch a ballgame for up to about four hours, but I do that at home where no one minds if I'm walking around.
I would go to ballgames, but it takes me more than an hour and a half to get there, and the last time I went, it took me an hour to get out of the parking lot when it was over. I'm not making this up. An hour!
I've got about 15 minutes in me, tops, to get out of a parking lot, and a lot less than that to stand on line for anything.
All this is why more and more, I tend to stay home, and I've never been happier.
Shorter commentaries aren't that bad either.
Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved. Lately, because we had some family and friends visiting, I got out more to restaurants, and I came to the conclusion that I wish dinner would last no longer than an hour and a half.
To keep the peace, I might go to an hour forty-five, but honestly, give me that hour and a half at the table. When I told my brother my thoughts on this, he said, "Yeah, well, you've always been more edgy than most people." I said, "I prefer restless to edgy," but he said, "No, edgy."
I think there's a lot of us edgy men around. Sometimes when the dinner drags on past my hour and a half cutoff point, and I'm out in the parking lot hanging around near my car, I'll notice another guy or two hanging around near their cars.
I don't like sit-down dinners or name cards or all these rules which, of course, offends all the people who do. I feel we have enough rules just for everyday living. Frankly, I still haven't gotten over the grammar school rule of "single file, no talking."
In the past, movies with intermissions used to scare me. I can watch a ballgame for up to about four hours, but I do that at home where no one minds if I'm walking around.
I would go to ballgames, but it takes me more than an hour and a half to get there, and the last time I went, it took me an hour to get out of the parking lot when it was over. I'm not making this up. An hour!
I've got about 15 minutes in me, tops, to get out of a parking lot, and a lot less than that to stand on line for anything.
All this is why more and more, I tend to stay home, and I've never been happier.
Shorter commentaries aren't that bad either.
