I’m Bored With You

The other night I was sharing communion with another outlaw family when one of the party got up, left the table and returned with a video game. As the turmoil of the family activities continued at the table, her attention was to the game.

I normally eat alone so partaking in a family discussion, even if I have no idea what they are talking about, is fascinating. People watch television and go to movies to listen to other people’s conversation. 

I was taught to pay attention at the table. If I was not part of the conversation, I was to sit still and listen politely. I had to ask permission to leave the table. I was also taught how to participate in dinning party topics. My old fashion etiquette goes with learning which fork to use or standing when a woman enters a room.

I guess when people started reading at the table, the proper behavior at the family table were changed. Television tables, odd hours for meals, and fast food broke up the family tradition.

I’m not judging the changes families allow today or was even offended by the game. As I’ve said, I don’t normally eat around other people except in restaurants, so I have no way to relate with family gatherings and wandering children. If the latest gizmo is acceptable at the table then so be it. After all, the host was carrying his tablet controlling the lighting and communications to the house. When is a dinner not interrupted by a phone call?

But my thought of bringing an electronic toy to the table also declares boredom with the conversations. What used to be a distraction is now part of a minute-by-minute world. We must stay connected or may lose a tidbit of information.

Yet that is not my real point here. Even though it is a stretch, my point is about boredom. Boredom in a relationship.

I’m no expert at relationships. I wonder what attracts us. Like a box of cereal in the grocery store, our first may be looks or some gimmick to catch our eye. If the ingredients seem acceptable, we drop it in our basket. But too much of the same cereal will be come boring and as every advertiser knows, there is always another, more exciting, latest and greatest, cereal begging for your attention.

Whether it is just extended dating or a committed long-term marriage, our species is always looking over the fence at the greener pasture. Even in our dreams, the youthful good looks fade and gravity takes over.  The best conversationalist will become boring watching a late night movie. Kids and pets can fill some of the time, but maybe the relationship has become boring.

Perhaps it is in that small print on the back of the marriage license about a time limit for a relationship? Maybe our interest change and what was so exciting before is just dull now? Is our day-to-day mundane life with/or without another person in our lives so boring we must depend on electronic distraction to fill the time?

I’m not sure if there is a boring clause for divorce, but maybe there should be? Yawn! ;^O