Facial expressions

I'm sitting here trying to work what I want to blog about. Sometimes this is very hard when I have made a HUGE decision to keep everything I can anonymous. (or as close as possible)

What I want to blog about is this - the people I went out for dinner with last night. What makes it difficult is this - the fact that I only really know them through bizarre circumstances and if any of these people read my blog they might recognise their own personalites and I might not have the opportunity to 'play' with them again. [Also it would take too much time and energy to explain how I know them whilst keeping the situation as anonymous as possible. I would have to mention the linking factor and then explain the philosophy of said link.......who can be bothered really. Lets just say that I know these people I had dinner with last night through extenuating circumstances and if I had a choice about some of them I would not choose to mix with them. THAT being said the extentuating circumstance has led me to meet some interesting and lovely people NONE of whom were there last night!]

One of the women at dinner is cut from a similar cloth to myself except that the pattern was laid out differently. (omg - bloody philisophical bent that I'm going on!) In laymans terms, we are the same but different. Teacher, female, same age range, some of same likes and dislikes etc. Differences though come from the fact that she is more defensive than I am and also a little more of the aggressor in stating her opinion. (although there are times when I can activate the defense shield and come back all guns blazing!) Last night was a stunning example where I felt that she had insulted me so I stated this as firmly as I could.

The awkwardness of the situation was palpable. She reasserted her opinion of what she had said, or the meaning and asked me to agree or disagree. I read the situation, kept my mouth shut, as I realised EVERYONE was listening with baited breath, and gave an eyebrow raise as my answer. This sorted the situation out quite well but I was furious. 1) I had let her get to me! and 2) I had let her get to me! (yes I know it's the same line but change the emphasis by following the weighting.)

So I will now change tack and not blog about the some of the strange people I find myself having meals with (altough by and large they are entertaining and it is only 1 or 2 amongst 10-12 people that I am thinking of). What I will blog about is the fact that the face is an amazing way of communicating thoughts and convictions and not a word is uttered.

I have the dancing eyebrows. I am blessed. I am able to point out the stupidness of the comment/situation/event with the mere flick of either eyebrow.

As a teacher this comes in handy. Kids watch and wait for the eyebrow to appear when they know someone else has made a stupid comment. I realise that this is not the best scenario to describe but it saves having to try and hold a straight face as a child says something that physically or linguistically is impossible. It allows me to go in and ask for clarification and help them see the strangeness of what they have said. I do have to watch out that I do not overuse the eyebrow as it COULD have a psychological impact on the children.

In social settings the dancing eyebrow can be both a blessing and a curse.

I will give you situation that may have occured.

Out to lunch this week (after going to the rally for more pay as a teacher) and a young 'un arrived at the table speaking of the fact that her father had fallen of his pushie in Adelaide and had ended up in hospital with serious injuries including concussion and a suspected cracked pelvis. The girl was beside herself as she does not live in Adelaide and cant see her father for herself to make sure he is alright in her eyes.

Most of us at the table are making the right sounds, 'oh dear!', 'how are you?', 'he's in good hands' etc. One gentleman then talks about the issues faced by pedal riders. He talks about how he feels safe, how he rides with other blokes from school doing the blokey thing and being real men and how they ride down a certain road that the HELL ride travels down and he is more than fine and that riding is quite safe really. [Just so you know, it is nothing unusual for this bloke to talk about himself. "me, me me..."]

The arty lady (good friend of mine) sitting next to him opposite me gives me a quick look and raises an eyebrow and I flick a return eyebrow comment. I then focus all my attention on the young 'un and ask how long until her mother might know the status of her father's injuries etc.

I was under the impression that my reply was not seen by anyone except arty lady. I was mistaken. All the other women at the table saw my response and agreed with me. Some even had some trouble with keeping a smile from their lips.

I feel better now that I have told you about my eyebrows - it has saved me from the situation of having to describe people in a sitting that I would not have been able to do with as much success.