Her friend forgot to hang up after their chat, and Sophie suddenly found out far too much about her own family
After hearing this little saga from my friend, I fundamentally reconsidered my outlook on peoplesame for my husband, frankly. We cut back on time spent with friends and became decidedly less forthcoming about our private lives. Its not that we stopped trusting our mates, or that we fell out with them, but we certainly drew a line around what was between us. And it all stemmed from a rather mortifying incident that befell my friend and her husband.
They had a proper set of close friends. Theyd all knocked about together for years. The men worked at the same company, and the women had slogged through university side by side. Then her friend got married and had a baby a year later. She even played matchmakerintroducing her old uni chum to her husbands mate, which went swimmingly, and soon enough, they all began seeing each other as couples.
But then, the friends husband jacked in his job for a significantly cushier gig. The wife soon bagged herself a well-paid role too. The get-togethers between the couples dwindled to rare occasions. Eventually, for various reasons involving a carousel of maternity leaves (more kids kept popping up), my friends friend was made redundant under some feeble pretexther bosses werent keen on her frequent absences.
So her husband had to knuckle down, working all hours to keep their four children and his wife living comfortably. Still, they managed; they bought themselves a sizable house and made sure everything was in working order. Over time, the household income began to level out, but they hardly became part of the landed gentry.
The second couplethe ones with no kidswere busy climbing the career ladder, going on trips abroad and generally swanning around doing as they pleased.
One day, the first couple thought, Why not invite our mates to our country cottage for a proper get-away from the city grind? It would be lovely weather, after all. Picturesque walks in the woods, perhaps a lazy paddle in the stream, the sort of weekend break that calls for a barbecue. The woman called her friend to suggest it, who sounded chuffed, but said she’d have to run it by her husband first and would ring back. She popped her mobile down on the tableforgetting to hit the red button. Thats where our story takes a turn: what Sophie heard next made her hair stand on end.
To Sophies shock, she overheard her friends describe her family as nitwits who hadnt a clue about the real world. How, with four children, the couple must be scraping their pennies together every month just to keep afloat. Their house? A rundown shamblesan embarrassment to have anyone over! The kids? Absolute terrors, and honestly, why have so many anyway? Half of them could be packed off to an orphanage and nobody would notice. The wife was grimly dull and droned on about her children endlessly.
As for the husband? A nasty so-and-so, best avoided at all costsconversation with him was entirely futile. The call eventually cut out, leaving the unsuspecting couplenow in possession of their friends’ unvarnished opinionsshell-shocked, tempted to storm round and give them an earful then and there. But just as tempers were fizzing, the friends husband rang to confirm theyd be turning up that weekend after all, and Sophies husband just mustered a Brilliant, see you then, and hung up.
Naturally, the couple had a thorough pow-wow about the whole mess, then decided to simply await the guests. When the friends arrived, arms laden with budget jars of pickled onions and the sort of off-brand sweets children only eat when theres no alternative, things got off to a rocky start. Straight away, the visiting husband piped up:
So, what sort of pittance are you lot earning that you cant even buy anything decent? Its all right, thoughwell feed you properly here. Tuck in, and after, you can help outplenty of chores to go round.
Sophie and her husband gaped in disbelief, utterly at a loss for words. Then the wife chimed in:
Why havent you had kids yet, then?
Oh, were in no rush, plenty of time for all that, the other woman replied.
I understand. Only yobs have children. Intelligent people live for themselves, said Sophie.
Well, that left the other couple completely speechless. It was obvious theyd somehow found out everything, but there was not a hint as to how. The friends drummed up some feeble excuse and beat a hasty retreat.
So, what do you make of it all? Did the couple do the right thing? Should they have been more gracious to their guests, or perhaps told them off properly? And what would you have done, really?
