Stupid Wings
February 13, 2001
7:30 a.m.
"I'll have the Stupid wings," I said, looking up at the waitress. Brigid broke out chuckling, as I knew she would. "Okay," the waitress said. We were at a new place in town that specializes in chicken wings. It's a place where the various menu items carry their own special nickname, and beside the Stupid Wings was the annotation "Vvvverrrryy Hot." I like hot foods. I'm the guy who used to go to the local minor league baseball games specifically because they served nachos with a pile of jalapeno peppers so tall they tended to slide off the plate. The food came after a bit. I breathed my Stupid wings in. The lining of my nose burned away in an instant. I mean. Wow. Sandblast City. Still, I ate. My eyes watered. My nose watered. Wow. It was all very good, but I would comment occasionally, and I found myself drinking many fluids. My daughter was laughing at me. My wife was laughing at me. But I didn't care. Here's a hint. When you're eating something hot, you can't stop. Once you stop, it really starts to burn. So keep eating.   There is a slight problem with my last bit of advice. I'm sure you bright people out there can see what it is without me having to tell you. This past weekend, Lisa and I took three days away from the hectic world and went to a second Marriage Encounter, which is kind of a retreat, but not really. I'm not a born and raised Catholic, so I would not really be qualified to compare a retreat and an encounter, but that's my understanding ... I digress. I really don't care if it's like a retreat or not. You do not understand what the pace of life is doing to you until you unhook for a few days. I took my watch off on Friday night and did not put it back on again until late Sunday afternoon. it's very strange living without a watch, even whe you don't really need it. Try it some time. I bet you'll feel naked. I came back tired, but refreshed and comfortable. I came back with renewed energy to put into the many areas of life that I have going. I came back with a renewed viewpoint of who Lisa is, and why I kinda want to spend, like, the rest of my life with her. Marriage Encounters are like that, you know? If you want to find out why, and you're in the situation to be able to do one then I suggest you do it. Later last night, we had returned home and had talked for a long time with Brigid about school next year and all sorts of stuff. I got ready for bed and read Brigid another piece of The Hobbit for bedtime. Lisa and I talked for a little while. I gave her a good night kiss. It had a bit more passion than perhaps the usual good night kiss might have. Encounters tend to make you appreciate these things a bit more, after all. "My God," Lisa said. "My lips are on fire." I smiled, thinking perhaps Lisa had used the afternoon to brush up on her annual romance novel reading. "It's been three hours since dinner, you've brushed your teeth, and the sauce is still burning my lips," Lisa continued. I started laughing hard. "How can you eat those stupid things!" Now I know how these wings got their nickname.  Daily Persistence is © Ron Collins |
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"Just knowing the time served as an accelerant." James Gleick |
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