Dinner By The Numbers

 So Wifey and I discussed our attendance at the 11 person dinner Saturday night in Boca, and, since we have more time on our hands than problems to solve, thankfully, we did an analysis.

Dinner parties are, of course, an art, best lampooned in "Curb" by the conclusion that you need a "great middle." Larry David meant that if  you have a line of diners on one side of the table, if the person in the middle isn't particularly friendly or a raconteur, the party fails. I am a VERY good middle.

But, Wifey and I concluded something. If you go to dinner with more than 6 people, it's kind of a waste, especially if you don't have a round table. We had a nice enough time Saturday, but Kenny and Joelle, at one end with Kenny's brother Larry, spoke mostly with him. At the other end, Paul and Patricia chatted mostly with Barry and Donna, and Eric, Dana, Wifey and I were the middles -- and caught up.

It was lovely, but if you think about it, kind of pointless. We really had dinner with Eric and Dana, which is nice, but the other 7 might as well have been at another table.

If you host a party, it's different. Guests mingle, and chat as they walk around. Also, sometimes the dinner has a focus -- like someone's birthday, or retirement, and then multiple people are all there for one person's reason.

But for a casual, no real purpose dinner, it seems 6 ought to be the upper number.

We're lucky in our family. Joey labled us "Full Squad," and their are 6 of us. Of course, now 2 more little men have joined the band, but aren't up to coming out to dinner yet.

D2 turns 31 in two Fridays, and the Full Squad has reservations for us to celebrate. The 6 of us always have a lovely time.

I think back to my parents at my age a lot. At 61, my Dad was retired and living in Delray. My Mom was surrounded by her family, and they went to dinner very often. My Dad soon realized that he didn't enjoy the evenings that much -- my uncles were not exactly academics or particularly well read or informed, and soon my Dad began to stay home. He preferred an evening of reading or watching public television to the small talk about CD rates and urologists/cardiolgists.

In a way, that period turned out to be good widow training for my Mom -- learing to socialize, which she very much enjoyed, without my Dad.

It's funny -- I savor my friends, and my Dad was a person with very few friends. He liked one neighbor, Sam, a retired Math professor and fellow WW II veteran. He said he always learned something from Sam.

My Dad also loved going out with my friends and me when we would visit their condo, or he would come to UM to visit. He always regretted not being able to go to college and he lived vicariously through me.

Meanwhile, on the dinner front, we have a busy week coming. Thursday Deb and Norman scored some tickets to a candlelight performance of music -- I forget whether it's Queen or Abba -- I just know that I opted out of Adele -- not a big fan. Afterwards, or maybe before, we're meeting for dinner in the Gables.

Friday my brother in law Dennis is driving in from near Tampa, and we have an afternoon at Gulfstream planned, with Paul and his Philly man Lou. Lou LOVES the track -- we form a partnership, eat Chinese food at Christine Lee's, and lose our money. Later that evening, I'll take Dennis to D1 and Joey's house -- he'll finally get to meet our grandsons. And then we're taking him to dinner at an Italian place right by their house -- D2 and Jonathan can't make it -- they have a pre wedding dinner.

So these will all be smaller dinner parties. I think they make the most sense. Now -- for something else not that critical to give a lot of thought to...