South of Sunnyside

Every time my wife’s family gathers for a Sunday afternoon meal, one of the kids—it’s usually Kim—says something inappropriate that dramatically changes the mood in the room. Every. single. time.

Today’s Father’s Day lunch looked to be no different; Kim’s brother started the discussion before lunch was served, by questioning their mother’s visits to the tanning booth (evidently, all the kids have been warned about the threat of skin cancer and forbidden to tan). That conversation died quickly, so it looked like we were in for a normal meal.

We talked about movies.

We talked about vacation.

We talked about work.

And that’s where we took a wrong turn. In discussing work, we learned that Kim’s brother is facing a potential furlough at work, after a series of layoffs. That led to a discussion about furloughs, and I tried to lighten the mood by saying that my company was considering furloughs (see, I own the company, and before last week I was the only employee…).

To that, Kim responded: “Screw your company.” She’s a bit jealous that we offer such perks as Call of Duty timeouts and afternoon margaritas.

Her mom, unusually quick on her toes, explained, “Kim, I think you already do.”

Evidently, I blushed.

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