We spent Saturday morning with a friends who argues with you about EVERYTHING.
Seriously, if you say off-handedly that the sky is a loverly color of azure today, he will argue with you that it’s more royal then azure. He argued with my MIL over her not having heard the phrase “horse whisperer”.
Knowing this, I try not to make any statements that could be interpreted as opinion.
“What’s it like being pregnant?”, he asks.
A reasonable question. “Meh. Not so bad… pretty much like usual, though I have a bit of a belly to contend with and sometimes the baby beats the living snot out of me or makes me a bit uncomfortable…”
In a I-can’t-wait-to-hear-what-you-say-to-this-voice, he asks, “So what are you going to do about camping** this year?”
“What do you mean?”
Frustrated, he says, “Are you going to go?”
“Hell yes I’m going.”
He is appalled that I would say such a thing, not the swearing, but the admittance that I’m going. “Aren’t you afraid?!”
I’m confused. “Afraid of what?”
‘Duh Woman’-tone, “Falling on rocks and stuff?”
“No more than usual. I’ve already lost sight of my feet.”
“I’m just sayin’, is all…”
And I come back with my stock response to unsolicited advice, “Okay.”
“No, I’m just sayin’…”
And, well, I’ll avoid boring you with the back and forth.
As an aside, I’m presuming that most of my vigilant readers understand that being knocked up isn’t really setting me back in my pace of life. Sure, there’s a few things here and there I can’t do, but it’s not that I’m lazing about, demanding Steve to fetch me Stouffer’s Mac&Cheese. For the most part, I’m pretty much doing what I’ve always done, just with more breaks and an occasional “oomph” or other such noise of exertion.
Our friend, through no fault of his own, has a disability which has allows him a handicapped parking tag. While at one of our stops, I “oof!” myself into the truck and he remarks, “I should have brought my parking tag! Then we could have parked closer!” (BTW, we were like, 3 spots from the door…)
I remark, “We’re not that far.”
“We could have parked closer!”
“Why would we need to park closer?”
“BECAUSE YOU’RE PREGNANT!”***
I sigh. “I am. But I’m fine.”
“But then you wouldn’t have to walk so far!”
“IT’S NOT THAT FAR.”
“BUT YOU’RE PREGNAT!”
“I am pregnant, not disabled, I can walk.” I say, perhaps a bit too gruffly. Steve snickers.
“I’m just sayin’….”
“And I’m just saying that I’m capable of walking 20 feet to the door. BUT THANK YOU.”
Those few pregnant ladies who choose to play The Pregnancy Card are giving the rest of us a bad name… seems that no one listens to me when I’m pregnant; if I would have wanted to sit/had seconds/use the bathroom rightthiseverysecond, I would have said something.
It’s almost like 75% of my converstations are arguements based since I CLEARLY do not know what I need.
This is frusterating.
*Technically, he’s Steve’s friend, but you know how that absorption thing happens…
** Our annual camping trip takes place in mid-late September, I’m in early October. “Camping” loosely translates into “3-days of drinking” and “binge eating”. Example 1. Example 2.
*** Holy shit! When the hell did that happen?!?!