Excuse Me, You're in My Seat

On a river cruise, meals are very regimented, so the dining hall is always full. As human beings, it is our natural inclination to form cliques, and these dining experiences become a breeding ground for this grouping. Jordan and I immediately made friends with three other couples a few hours into our trip {the only three couples to find our passport mishap most amusing}, and these friends naturally became or dinner mates {and so much more, of course}. Last night was the captain's farewell dinner {ironically, it is not actually the last night, but rather the second to last night} and the tagged "mama bear" of our group went downstairs to grab our table. Surprise! Another group had taken our seats. So, naturally {but not without complaint, seeing as how we had sat there for every meal for the last week} her and her husband went and got the opposing table across the room with sufficient seating for our posse. The group who had spent the entire trip sitting at our now "new" table did not like this one bit. They made numerous complaints about how we had taken their spot, but "mama bear" was not moving, so there was no chance of table surrender. When the rest of our group finally arrived, we found our new location {plus a lot of drama}. We looked confusingly on our stolen table and saw the couples high-fiving each other. High-fiving? I'm sorry, did we do something wrong? Okay, so we're the loud group - the ones who talk when they shouldn't be, the ones who take just a little longer to linger on "just one more photo" while the guide {and the group} waits impatiently, the ones who laugh loud during meals and get a lot of stares. But, we're not selfish; we're the first to buy extra water bottles for the group, take a picture for you with your significant other, or donate our earphones if you forget yours for the tour. For whatever reason, these people just wanted our table, and for whatever reason, they had made it personal.

It took everything within me {within each of us, really} to not say anything. As a high school teacher, I thought of the advice I would give my students: just let it go, it's not worth it, be the bigger person. But, at that moment {and only that moment, of course}, I wanted to kick that little voice square in the face and be the small person. Do we ever really leave high school? Fortunately, my foot didn't have to do anything and the scenery did the face-kicking for us as our side of the ship drove by beautiful vineyards and gorgeous small towns and our old side passed shrubs and weeds with no picturesque value {giggle}. More importantly, we had another dinner amongst great company, and we didn't change a darn thing {except for our seats, of course}.

View from Marksburg Castle on the Rhine River

View from our "new" dinner table

Sharing seats {for the photo}

Captain's Farewell Dinner // Modcloth "Shoreline Soiree" dress, J. Crew Cece flats & Michael Kors jet set watch