Table talk

[khiemtran]

Udon suki at Masa, which has become one of my favourite comfort places. It's a tiny place, so even though it's filled with small tables, they might as well be joined together, conversation-wise.

So, this brings up the question of just when to politely ignore the conversations around you and when it's okay to join in. I have joined in once when the man on the table next to me was talking about Osaka, and we ended up up having a direct conversation across our two tables. In practice, you can actually hear most conversations in the room if you tune in. On the other hand, the last time we were there, we could here the people on the next table talking about us (or more accurately about Liem eating gyoza), and we (or at least I) pretended to ignore them.

So, what do you do if you're squeezed in a restaurant and the people at the next table are talking about you, or about something of interest to you?

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

My daughter's currently in Osaka--how long were you there? (I lived in Kyoto for a year and a half, and the daughter who's now in Osaka was born when we lived outside of Tokyo.)

I *have* joined in to conversations now and then... not so much in restaurants, but for instance--well, here's a real case: I was waiting for my younger son's flute lesson to be over, and three kids my son's age (thirteen) were hanging around talking about how school elections (i.e., for things like class president) are no more than popularity contests and I was very interested in what they were saying, so I suddenly piped up--middle aged parent who had been invisible to them up till then, I'm sure--and asked, "What do you think it would take to make the elections *not* be about just popularity?" And they looked slightly shocked that I had intruded into the conversation, but they thought about it, and answered, and then I nodded and went back to reading my book, and they went back to chatting.

It was fun :-)

In a restaurant, though, I think I'm generally too shy? But if someone is talking about something *really* interesting, and if their party seems friendly, I might smile. But I hesitate to get involved, because then how do you end the interaction?

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

My daughter's currently in Osaka--how long were you there? (I lived in Kyoto for a year and a half, and the daughter who's now in Osaka was born when we lived outside of Tokyo.)

I was only in Osaka for a week, about three(?) years ago, but that was my first time in Japan. I had a chat with the man at the next table about walking down Doutonbori and watching all the mechanical signs. I've been back twice since then, but just to Kyoto and Tokyo.

In a restaurant, though, I think I'm generally too shy? But if someone is talking about something *really* interesting, and if their party seems friendly, I might smile. But I hesitate to get involved, because then how do you end the interaction?

Yes, there is that. Once the fiction that you can't actually hear the next table is gone, all you can do is stare straight ahead and try to drown it out with your own conversation.

I was in the changeroom of the local pool with Liem(5) yesterday and we were discussing whether or not he wanted an icecream. He said he shouldn't have one because it was such a cold day. "Is it a cold day?" I asked, and the man beside us (who was dressing his young daughter) said "It's a beautiful day!" as though he'd been in the conversation all along. I wonder if everyone in the changeroom had been listening to us.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Changing rooms are a place where one feels *extra* vulnerable when one realizes/remembers how voices carry -_-