In Praise of the Snarky

This past Saturday I was the 5th wheel for dinner with Mother, Father, Eldest Brother and Sister in Law. (hubby was laid up with a foot injury that he assures me only coincidentally coincided with the final four). Well, at this dinner Eldest Brother regaled us with a story of a chance encounter with a certain couturier. Wherein said couturier displayed a less than stellar disposition. Due obvious legal restrictions I can’t divulge the name of the couturier, but his initials are KC and his name rhymes with Bennith Bole.

Of course Eldest Brother’s story got me thinking though… about my white Bennith Bole blazer that I had yet to done since I bought it this past winter at Next to New Consignment, in Oyster Bay, NY. Dare I wear it? Should I wear it? Am I rewarding the ill mannered, yet wildly talented Bennith Bole by becoming a veritable walking advertisement for this kind of sour behavior? Hey, I’ve worn garments with much worse agendas.

So today I wore my blazer in honor not only of Bennith Bole but of all the “snarky” people who have touched my life. There have been many and I truly have loved each one, not in spite of their snarkiness, but because of it. My college advisor, Arlene; one of my best best best friends in college, Laura; my former step instructor, Deborah -Anne; my current hair stylist, Jessica; Mother and Grandmother. I understand these people and I do not take their dispositions personally. Some people are generally peppy perky people and some people roll their eye...constantly.

But to balance it out I was EXTRA nice today. I logged my students’ midterm grades on a curve, I let someone go in front of me on line at Target, I gave my Pilates class an extra five minutes at the end and I read my kids Goodnight Moon three times instead of two.