I recently had the good fortune of eating at a NYC restaurant where, despite sitting at a two top, I felt like I was at a community table of some sort. The restaurant had a moderate noise level but I couldn’t ignore the fact that I was privy to every detail of the conversation next to me without even the slightest amount of eavesdropping.
 
Two young women sat gabbing over white wine (which is pretty much the devil’s nectar for ladies as far as I can tell) and the conversation was becoming heated. The one girl was schooling her friend on her current view on the world and the dating scene.  She went on to tell her that she had been dumped by her boyfriend and a long depression was followed by a slow and steady rebuilding of her confidence and she had since discovered that she actually enjoyed being single.
 
She was feeling really good about herself and was realizing that a lot of guys were suddenly interested in her.   She got back to focusing on things that made her happy and not just her ex and it seemed her life was heading in a new and exciting direction.  She was finding that all of these other guys made her feel good about herself in a way that her ex hadn’t.
 
Her friend listened intently as she went on to say how proud she was of the new woman she had become and that she finally felt like she was having the life she deserved.  Then she said after all of this new-found confidence, lo and behold, her ex wanted her back.  Hallelujah, she said!  It worked.  Finally the guy that never treated her well wanted her back when she actually began to like and value herself.  She had built herself back up and it now seemed she was going to throw it all away.
 
Just as I was thinking that this is the mistake that SO many women make, coupled with the fact that I couldn’t believe she had no volume control – or self awareness to realize how loudly she was talking – she turned to me.
 
“Excuse me,” she said.  Immediately I was struck by the fact that it was going to get awkward because I now knew so many of the intimate details of her recent self discovery and I was going to have to tell her to value herself and not go back to the loser that let her go. She must have noticed me listening.  Here it comes, I thought….
 
Then she said, “I couldn’t help but hear you ask about the farro salad, and it really is life changing.”
 
Obviously I had no choice but to order the Caesar.