I Love When You Love Chicken

My mom married my father when she was 19. Less than a year later, she had twins – my oldest brothers. I’m at the bottom rung of eight kids. When I was growing up, my mother used a considerable amount of her energy to tell me that I had plenty of time, there was no rush, just wait to have kids and settle down with someone. Since my two sisters started procreating practically as soon as they reached adulthood, I can only assume that they either ignored her advice, or for some reason, she unduly targeted me.

Regardless, I took her advice. I have no regrets about not marrying any of my ex-boyfriends because, looking back, I realize now the relationships wouldn’t have worked over the long-term. My friend Suzanne calls us the “new statistic,” women who are waiting longer and longer to marry. I’m fine with this. I have an active social life, an interesting career and a great place to live in Covington. What seems strange to me are all the people who don’t agree with my lifestyle choice, if you can call it that. 

Tina sat in the cubicle across from me when I still worked in an office. While I am a huge proponent of “cube etiquette,” sometimes it’s just too damn difficult not to overhear others’ phone conversations.

Here's a typical Tina phone call to husband:

“I thought you were making steaks tonight.” (Pause)
“No, chicken is fine.” (Pause)
“No, (getting upset) I love chicken. I love you. I love when you love chicken.”

Tina says that I’m “just jealous, because you don’t have a significant other.” Don’t have a significant other? I don’t even have any chicken!

This is a constant theme in my life. I had a recent e-mail exchange with a favorite client in Alabama. We went back and forth with some Q&A, and then I finally came up with a resolution to her issues. She sent me a final note thanking me for my assistance, and tagged a p.s. on the e-mail: “So have you met anyone yet?”

Urgh.

A while back, I had a meeting with a client to finalize his marketing plan. We discussed promotional specs, deadlines and budgeting. By the end of the meeting, we covered every angle and were ready to move forward with our plans for the multi-million dollar account. I felt confident that everything would go forward smoothly and he was pleased with my overall project handling and turnaround. He even felt compelled to make an encouraging comment as I left his office: “By the way,” he said as I walked out, “Can’t believe some nice young fellow hasn’t snapped you up yet.”

I guess I need to add chicken to my grocery list.