Tuesday, February 22, 2011

304. HAVING TEA WITH HIS MOTHER


The next morning I wake up, stretch and twist around in bed for 20 seconds. I grab my watch. Ugh. 6:00 am.

If I was at home or visiting my parents I would get up, brush my teeth and watch the Today Show. But I’m a guest visiting a desi bachelor and his mother and I don’t want to disturb them. Then again, there is the flip side, if I stay in bed too long I may look lazy, which I am not. So I decide to toss back the covers and shower. Auntie is probably in her late 60s, earlier 70s – if she's a typical desi mom she is already up.

I pull on jeans and a black turtleneck and open the door. I peer up and down the hallway, absorbing the silence. Dr. Froggy’s bedroom is at the end of the hall in what his mother called “the master suite” last night on our house tour. The double doors are closed so I can only presume he is not an earlier riser. Quietly, I slink down the stairs. I feel like a fraud for some reason, like I don’t belong here.

I go into the kitchen and unsurprisingly find Auntie cooking and drinking tea. “Good morning,” she says and puts a pan of water on the stove for my morning tea. “Did you sleep well?” she asks. “I did,” I reply and lean against the counter, watching her open and close cupboards, slowly filling the counter tops with dishes. It is so obvious that she organized the kitchen.

Over a cup of tea we chat about my work, parents and where I grew up. An hour later Dr. Froggy comes down the back stairs in flannel pajama bottoms and a long sleeve tee-shirt. His mother looks unhappy to see him unshowered and unshaved and speaks to him in Sindhi. He replies in Sindhi, with an Indian accent. Hhhmm, that is odd.

We eat breakfast and Dr. Froggy goes to shower and get ready. By the time we leave for the resort (in the Porsche), I have spent five hours with his mother. Thank goodness she is so sweet and down to earth. Good thing I am me --- a self entertaining unit who can talk to anyone and anything. 

Clearly Dr. Froggy has doctor brain. If the situation were reversed I would never allowed someone to spend 5 hours alone with my parents. Don't get me wrong, my parents are great --- kind and welcoming. It's just that meeting parents is nerve racking enough, but then to abandon your date for hours on end?  Then again, when I told Dr. Froggy that my aunt had died he was like “I deal with death all the time.” So for someone who is empathetic and emotive (me), Dr. Froggy’s lack of awareness is worrisome. And while I cannot currently picture myself living in this house, I can see myself having tea with his mother.


6 comments:

My Courageous Life said...

Did you hear Elizabeth Webber's character was written off GH? I watched it today after months. Who is this Balkan Theo, Shawn, some Irish girl with Lucky, Elizabeth still thinks she has Lucky's baby, Robin and Patrick are having issues, Carly is trying to break up Sonny's wedding....ugh. This is why I stopped watching. It is getting ridiculous. Why can't they go back to the main characters on this show? And revisit the history which is what has kept this show strong all these years. I once read an article about how GH is oen of the most violent shows on TV.

Anonymous said...

jeans & black turtleneck. i love a woman in jeans & a black turtleneck :).

i wouldn't blame dr. froggy for not showing empathy. he is good at his job because he keeps emotions under check. empathy requires emotional involvement in the other person's suffering. he probably wasn't like this always & this is just a way for him to live a normal life in a stressful job.

--aj.

101 Bad Desi Dates said...

Dear My Courageous Life -

How can they kill off Liz? She has 3 small kids with 3 different fathers, two of whom are Lucky and Jason. Or maybe she will leave and come back in 8 months and kids will be all grown up and Jake will to date Jocelyn and then the truth will come out about paternity ...

The Balkan is Theo and he has been pretending to work for Interpol but used that a ruse to get Lucky to find Brenda so he could have her killed bc she shot his son Alexander in 2007 and Dante helped her cover it up.

I dont know the Irish Meghan and Siobhan got involved other than Lucky's life need some loving.

And who are the main characters? I find Sonny SOOO annoying I cannot tell you, he's the most erratic mobster ever. Jason needs to run the organization.

I had to stop watching for 3 months - I agree it was getting bad and why does it take Sonny and Brenda 3 weeks to get married?!

xo,
Desi Girl

101 Bad Desi Dates said...

Dear Anonymous -

Thanks! Black turtleneck and jeans are a true winning combo, you cannot mess that up classic casual look up!

And you are right I am not meaning to be hard on him - but I do need emotional support and it is a concern that I may not get some or enough. I am not high maintenance, but everyone needs to know that their partner will help nurture their soul - but your point is valid - you do have to shut down in order to survive knowing your patients may die.

xo,
Desi Girl

My Courageous Life said...

I gave up after my one day of watching and went and read the spoilers. As usual it isn't looking good for ost of the characters. Also, Patrick cheated on Robin?!?!? They didn't even get to be happy for 5 minutes after their wedding. Sheesh. I was reading an article that was blaming one of the writers of the show who keeps killing people off like Emily and Alan. And I read now that Liz has been re-hired. Oh and Nicholas is dying? and poor Mac never has a storyline. What happened to Maxie's love life? I find Carly SO annoying. If Sonny is taken and Jax has realized his marriage is over who is Carly going to be into now?

101 Bad Desi Dates said...

Dear MCL -

What???? Nicholas is dying? I thought he and Brooklyn would start hooking up soon. The prob is that Mac started as a super bad boy and cleaned up his act and now what can he do as the commish, he pretty much can only get shot like he did and then make, which allows Robin and Maxie to bond and GH to flash back. And for Maxie to talk about her defective heart. I think Maxie will start dating Patrick's brother.

It is nuts, Carly - yeah - she is nuts. I dont know, I had to stop watching bc I didnt remember Brenda being SOOOO annoying ....

xo,
Desi Girl