On Dec 6, 5:14*pm, aem > wrote:
> On Dec 6, 11:09 am, maxine in ri > wrote:
>
>
>
> > My husband's church has "small group dinners" where the host supplies
> > the main course and assigns the guests the appetizer, salads, sides,
> > and desserts.
>
> > Dh and i were assigned salad and bread, so I made a Citrus salad with
> > candied walnuts and gougeres.
>
> > We arrived precisely at 6:30 as requested, to find that we were the
> > second couple there. *As I placed my food on the counter, the hostess
> > said "Oh, we don't need a salad. *This other person brought a lovely
> > salad of beets and pomegranates, which is what she considered an
> > appetizer."
> > She also brought (which I wasn't told) a basket of artisan bread, so
> > to be graceful, I put the salad in the coatroom and suggested the
> > gougeres would be nice for the appetizers.....
>
> > She _also_ brought gyozo and sauce for the hors d'ouvres.
>
> > If I had been the hostess, I probably would have told her, as the
> > guests who were assigned those courses arrived, that while her
> > offerings were lovely, it would be kind of her to let the other people
> > share theirs rather than have the other guests shoved aside for her
> > ego.
>
> > What would _you_ have done?
>
> What would I have done in your place, or as the hostess? *In your
> place I would have handed the salad to her and said, "Here's the salad
> you asked me to bring. *Please do whatever you like with it." *And I
> wouldn't raise my hands to take it back from her if it looked like she
> wanted to give it back. *In her place I'd have served everything
> brought by everyone and counseled the overeager person privately that
> bringing unwanted things was both unnecessary and troublesome.
>
> It's always fun to play Dear Abby with these weird social problems
> people post about; our lives are obviously too boring. * * -aem

I'd take boring over having to sit through that again!

maxine in ri