Table Feelers

Now I must say when I first was married I was overly clean but as each child appeared I had less and less time to overly clean.  In time I learned the first child, bless his heart had my clean fetish and the third, not so much.  If anyone has ever waited tables you know that the cloth to wipe down tables quickly is not always as clean as you would hope. The public doesn't know this, you seat customers without much fuss, they are hungry, they want food.

But I do not forget the wipe cloth when I go out to eat at a restaurant that does not change tablecloths. I make a point not to touch the table if I don't need to.  I do not even like to put my flatware on the uncovered table, I ask for another napkin for this.

When I go out to lunch with anyone I watch them in amazement if they start touching the table as they talk.  Some people feel the table, I mean the entire table if we sit long enough, as if to massage it. Others make points and just use fingertips to point here and there. Either way I think "They are one brave soul! I would never!"

Which brings me to how much I have grown. In my younger days I would feel the need to warn every "table feeler" or the "table pointer" to be careful of the germs because of the undetermined dirty cloth that cleaned it.  Now I sit in awe and silently watch, minding my own business, careful I do not feel or touch the table.  (Unless it is an immediate family member, I still need growth here.)

Two reasons it is ok by me now: 1) clean freaks like Mitty Roosevelt have no natural immunity to handle casual illnesses, so maybe some casual germs are good, and 2) Vanessa Van Edwards, a behavior investigator, did research on the most watched Ted Talks. It turns out the more a speaker uses the movement of their hands during talk the more engaged the audience.  So what do I know?

Thankful to be a "non-table toucher" and have learned to mind my own business. In the past this would have driven me crazy!