Hubby and I went out for a nice, relaxing dinner the other evening and our table was situated near two other tables of patrons.

As I perused the menu, a voice grated on my delicate hearing. In a mixture of moaning and whining, this person was complaining about her life, which she deemed to be "miserable.” (One could conclude, based on the tone of her voice, that she was, indeed, miserable.) She had to go to the doctor's again, sigh, and he always had the same bad news for her, sigh...her health was poor and if she didn't lose weight it would become worse, sigh. She described in excruciating detail about her last medical test, which had something to do with her "innards.”

The day of the test was cold and rainy, and her ride was late. When she arrived at the medical facility she had to fill out a lot of papers, and she could not understand why they needed to know her whole life story. It took forever to fill them out (my guess, about 15 minutes). She had trouble because her hand was shaking slightly and her glasses weren't strong enough to read the tiny print. She was called in for the testing by a slight "bit of a girl” and it was all downhill from there.

Her story continued to meander with frequent sighs and strong emphasis on each and every "horrible" detail. She was still awaiting the results of that test, and was oh, so nervous. Her dinner companion muttered an occasional "Oh, dear" and "That sounds awful" in an attempt to commiserate with her, but the commentator steamrolled over her comments with her own laments. "What an awfully depressing dinner companion," I thought. I would think twice before inviting HER out again.

Trying to ignore the naysayer, my ears perked up as the couple at an adjoining table started to talk about their adult children. At least their conversation wouldn't be so displeasing.

Alas, I was mistaken. Their adult son, who had done so well at URI, has never "amounted to much.” He continues to work at a local convenience store at night and sleeps all day on their couch. He smokes too much, although what he smokes wasn't disclosed. He does not go out socially, so the prospect of marriage seems minimal. He is very depressed and the feeling was spreading to his parents.

Their daughter, also living at home, dropped out of college, but not before they paid $16,000 for the semester. She would like to get a job someday, but for now babysitting her cousin's son after school gives her enough spending money to go out with her friends at night. (Her parents pay the car insurance and cell phone bills for both of their children.) The couple bemoaned the fact that they would be stuck with their adult children for the rest of their lives, and that may very well be so.

Not generally one to listen to the conversation of others, the ambiance of this particular restaurant facilitated it, drawing my auditory attention to the whiny voice of the woman complaining about her health and the raised voices of the couple complaining about their adult children. I still enjoyed my own scrumptious meal of shrimp and broccoli scampi while sitting across from Hubby who enjoyed his own chosen delicacy.

Every now and then he would look up and smile at me, completely oblivious to the conversation around him due to the fact he has terrible hearing. I would smile back, happy to be in his presence without any whining about poor health or grumbling about lazy adult children. I know if Hubby could hear me well enough for us to have a conversation, we would be talking about the fun we had during our trip to Florida, the funny thing our granddaughter did, or the next renovation we would like to do to our home now that our children are grown. (Knock down the spare bedroom wall to make a master bedroom suite, complete with a two-person Jacuzzi tub, a large screen television with surround sound and a walk in closet.) The occasional foray into dinner out should not be an excuse to whine or complain, but be an enjoyable event…with crème brulee for dessert.