Happy Friday! Today was my summer Friday and I took Mom to the beach for the day. It was a good day; however, I think I have to find a new beach. I’ve been going to Margate for years and it used to be that there would be 15-20 feet between everybody. Since Covid ended and people continued “working from home” (4 out of 5 people are great, number 5 logs into Teams on the beach) the beaches have been slammed. Today a group set up their umbrella and chairs less than four feet in front of us, blocking the small sliver of ocean view that we had. To our left, I had a family group set up 10 beach chairs side by side. There’s also a service people are using that sets up their chairs and giant tents early in the morning for them so that they’re waiting when the family finally hits the beach. If you can’t make it to the beach until 1 or 2 pm, maybe you sit further away from the ocean.
Don’t even get me started on Shibumi tents. They are loud and visually distracting. They make me want to toss popcorn under them for the seagulls.
First world problems, but if I wanted to sit shoulder-to-shoulder with humanity, their cigarettes, and their spikeball games I’d go to Ocean City. At least I could grab a slice of pizza on my way out. (No shade to OC, but it’s crowded and I like quiet.)
Time for the Friday 5! This week’s theme is For argument’s sake.
- How argumentative are you?
Despite everything you just read, I am not argumentative. I hate yelling and confrontation, which is why I let Sal, Dom, and Antoinette squeeze in front of us on the beach today without saying a word and why I don’t burn down Shibumi tents. I also hate disagreement for the sake of disagreement and I think that people who love to play Devil’s Advocate need a new hobby. Have you tried basketweaving? - With whom do you have a friendly, long-running argument, and what is it about?
The lovely Kristen loves fall, and I love summer. She rhapsodizes about crispy mornings and pumpkins and crunchy leaves, but I know that fall here in the Mid-Atlantic region is rainy and damp. The leaves sog rather than crunch. We gently poke at each other’s wrong opinion. - What was your most recent argument about?
Yeah, uh, we’re redacting this, mmkay? - When did you most recently overhear an argument between people you don’t know?
Walmart is a breeding ground for familial discord. Money, food, decorating styles – it’s up for spirited debate every single time I go. - What’s an unpopular opinion you have about food?
Raspberries ruin every dessert they touch.
That’s it for today, I’m heading to my hammock to continue “The Cryptographers” which started off really strong but is now limping along because I can’t suspend my disbelief enough to stop screaming “JUST DRAW A NEW MAP!”
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Wow; you gave five stars to Book Lovers? I picked that up just because I liked the cover quite a while ago and still haven’t gotten to it. Maybe I need to slide it closer to the top of the stack.
It was a great five-star read for me. I appreciated that Nora (the main character) and Charlie (her love interest) were adults and used their words, unlike a lot of other romcom books. That got me past the annoying sister and her hijinks. Plus, I mentally cast the Trent Crimm character from Ted Lasso as Charlie and that move easily took me to five stars.