Tuesday 18 January 2022
Tuning out conversations
The other day found Mrs H and I in a café we hadn’t visited for a number of years, and yes we do visit quite a few cafés. Before a walk, after a walk, during a walk or instead of a walk, but we aren’t ones for pottering around the house all day.
To resume. We were in the café munching our way through avocado and poached egg on toast while at a nearby table a group of people were chatting away rather audibly. Not particularly loud but entirely audible. One woman in particular was holding forth about mental health.
What she was saying about mental health may or may not have been interesting, but there is something about certain people – I’m not sure what. Whatever it is, some people seem to emit a number of clues which suggest quite strongly that what they say won’t be worth listening to.
I’m quite good at tuning out conversations. So much so that a critic might turn it around and say I’m not very good at listening to them. Possibly so.
Mrs H is better than I am at picking up the gist of nearby conversations, but this time we both tuned out the mental health talk so that’s it. Neither of us knows what it was about. The lady did sound quite earnest about mental health issues though, I did pick up that much.
The avocado and poached egg on toast was very good by the way. The coffee too. We’ll go there again.
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8 comments:
I like poached egg on mashed potato. It catches all the yolk.
Bernard Levin warned us to be aware of Single Issue Fanatics. Their obsession ignores all other factors arising in a very messy world - and I suspect they cannot even hear your reasoned objections over the roar of their fanaticism.
A small cafe has recently opened in a wooded recreational area near us in Charnwood. We have had nice coffees there, they don't rush you, and the scrambled eggs on toast, topped with bacon or smoked salmon, look very enticing.
On another blog I visit regularly, our host said that she had been in a cafe in Derbyshire with her friends, and couldn't help noticing this couple with obvious avocado and poached egg issues...
People of a certain age, most of us here I guess, have lived blessed lives free from mental issues. Most of which just didn't exist in our younger days. A cup of tea was the most commonly prescribed medicine for a whole variety of conditions. I did find something interesting a few years back, it was a deathbed confession from the psychologist who discovered ADHD. He was working for a pharmaceutical company and was apparently pressured into finding something which would require regular lifetime medication. Finding nothing he turned to inventing.
https://www.drbelsham.com/inventor-of-adhds-deathbed-confession-adhd-is-a-fictitious-disease/
dearieme - my problem is poaching the eggs to a satisfactory standard so that the whites are cooked and the yolks runny.
DJ - I recall a pleasant walk somewhere near Charnwood a couple of years ago. That was partly a woodland walk but I can't remember exactly where.
Sam - ah - I thought the sharp sideways glances were to check if we were paying attention.
Andy - the article seems to be claiming that overdiagnosis of ADHD is the real issue.
@AK: I poach eggs in the microwave. It's pretty good at achieving your preferred balance (and mine).
I dislike the method of poaching that denies you a view of the yolk looking sunny and delicious.
dearieme - I'll try that. I've tried various methods including a kind of disposable paper pocket in a pan of simmering water which works fairly well but is fiddly.
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