-The Partner who didn't get it-
It must have been 2002. A cast party in Minneapolis. And the partner who didn't get it.
Allen Gurganus once wrote that among every pairing of artists, there was always the talented one, and the one whose parents were paying for the studio. Both partners in my example had day jobs, but we couldn't help but make that association.
You know, another actor said, We've all been rockin' out backstage to the musical interludes. The guitarists laugh, and the singers titter.
It took several shows before the meaning of the lyrics dawned on us, he continued. I mean, those are really dirty. Murmurs of assent all around, with the exception of the partner who didn't get it.
No-they-weren't, she scolds. It's healthy. It's human nature.
Her partner (who got it) took a long stage-length swig of the Shiraz, and all was quiet except for the recording of Louie Armstrong.
The actor tried again. I guess, he said, that it was the line where the girl "was in pigtails when the boys learned she'd go down" that made me think it-
'That's human nature, too.'
She doesn't get it, but she gets that she's alone because she's looking around with wild eyes for support, ultimately seeking her partner's over the rim of his glass. I suppose any one of us could have helped her over the final stumbling block and identified the clue of age-inappropriate behavior, but by now she was so convinced she was trapped in a den with puritans that she might not recognize one of the last and greatest taboos.
For whatever reason, our group let it drop there, and our hosts - the partners who did and didn't get it - began to clean up, and we gave them what assistance we could before they drove all guests out of the kitchen and out the door.
On the way back home I thought about the uncomfortable moment earlier, and marveled at the difference the uncomprehending partner could have made if she had delivered 'that's human nature, too' in a resigned voice. I think we all would have assumed that she did know what we were talking about, and had rather cunningly advanced the discussion. I never saw her again, and I have no idea how they turned out. I could imagine some Fitzgerald-like scene in the kitchen after everyone left, but that would all be conjecture.
And through the years, this mystery has stuck with me. Maybe that's why I didn't remember until now that they still possess the decorative plate I brought to transport and present the peanut butter brownies.
That's one mystery solved.
Damn. I liked that dish.
Allen Gurganus once wrote that among every pairing of artists, there was always the talented one, and the one whose parents were paying for the studio. Both partners in my example had day jobs, but we couldn't help but make that association.
You know, another actor said, We've all been rockin' out backstage to the musical interludes. The guitarists laugh, and the singers titter.
It took several shows before the meaning of the lyrics dawned on us, he continued. I mean, those are really dirty. Murmurs of assent all around, with the exception of the partner who didn't get it.
No-they-weren't, she scolds. It's healthy. It's human nature.
Her partner (who got it) took a long stage-length swig of the Shiraz, and all was quiet except for the recording of Louie Armstrong.
The actor tried again. I guess, he said, that it was the line where the girl "was in pigtails when the boys learned she'd go down" that made me think it-
'That's human nature, too.'
She doesn't get it, but she gets that she's alone because she's looking around with wild eyes for support, ultimately seeking her partner's over the rim of his glass. I suppose any one of us could have helped her over the final stumbling block and identified the clue of age-inappropriate behavior, but by now she was so convinced she was trapped in a den with puritans that she might not recognize one of the last and greatest taboos.
For whatever reason, our group let it drop there, and our hosts - the partners who did and didn't get it - began to clean up, and we gave them what assistance we could before they drove all guests out of the kitchen and out the door.
On the way back home I thought about the uncomfortable moment earlier, and marveled at the difference the uncomprehending partner could have made if she had delivered 'that's human nature, too' in a resigned voice. I think we all would have assumed that she did know what we were talking about, and had rather cunningly advanced the discussion. I never saw her again, and I have no idea how they turned out. I could imagine some Fitzgerald-like scene in the kitchen after everyone left, but that would all be conjecture.
And through the years, this mystery has stuck with me. Maybe that's why I didn't remember until now that they still possess the decorative plate I brought to transport and present the peanut butter brownies.
That's one mystery solved.
Damn. I liked that dish.
posted by Benedict | 8:16 PM
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