[net.social] The Ultimate Naming Convention Question

gts@dmcnh.UUCP (Guy The Schafer) (02/19/85)

[Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet a close friend of mine....]

OK.  Say a hypothetical 21 year old single male person was invited
to the home of his hypothetical parental units for an anniversary
party to be held about 1000 miles away.
So he jumps on the plane not alone but with a happily-married
35 year old female person with whom the hypothetical male has
been having a affair for eighteen months.
Enter hypothetical male with companion into room containing
hypothetical parents (2) and hypothetical grandparents (4) and
hypothetical brother (1).
What does he introduce the female person as?
And how does he get the same bed with her that night?  Hoo-boy.

This is all hypothetical, of course.
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beth@gymble.UUCP (Beth Katz) (02/21/85)

(Guy The Schafer) writes:
>OK.  Say a hypothetical 21 year old single male person was invited to the
>home of his hypothetical parental units for an anniversary party to be held
>about 1000 miles away. So he jumps on the plane not alone but with a happily-
>married 35 year old female person with whom the hypothetical male has been
>having a affair for eighteen months.  Enter hypothetical male with companion
>into room containing hypothetical parents (2) and hypothetical grandparents
>(4) and hypothetical brother (1).  What does he introduce the female person
>as? And how does he get the same bed with her that night?  Hoo-boy.

I would introduce the female as a friend of mine from XXX where XXX stands
for work, school, or whatever.  I would have warned said parents ahead of time
that I was bringing a friend so as to not make things unbearably uncomfortable.
Miss Manners says that unmarried folks should not ask to share sleeping
quarters but that the hosts should ignore wanderings in the night.

Why did the hypothetical male person decide it was so important to bring the
hypothetical female person along to an anniversary party?  Maybe he just
wanted to make trouble, especially if he didn't warn his parents first.

All answers are also hypothetical.
					Beth Katz

carson@homxa.UUCP (P.CARSTENSEN) (02/22/85)

How about "Mama, this is Esther. Unfortunately the other third of our
menage a trios couldn't make it out here..." (assuming that the
hypothetical (henceforth, abbrev. to hp.) husband of the hp.
happily-married woman is cognizant of the affair...)

Of course, this all depends on the health (wouldn't want 2 of the 4
hp. grandparents to keel over with heart attacks, ja?), humor, and
general tolerance of all the others attending the anniversary party.

Actually the rule I would use is: How much to say depends on how long
you expect this hp. affair to last...if it is going to be a permanent
part of your life, they're gonna have to come to terms with it
sometime.  If it is a short-term fling, then you have some pretty
interesting questions about why you want this person at a gathering
that is so family-defined.... (I know my parents would mostly worry
about me getting hurt in such a situation, tho my father would growl
initially...)
P.

spaf@gatech.UUCP (Gene Spafford) (02/22/85)

In article <191@dmcnh.UUCP> gts@dmcnh.UUCP (Guy The Schafer) writes:
>OK.  Say a hypothetical 21 year old single male person was invited
>to the home of his hypothetical parental units for an anniversary
>party to be held about 1000 miles away.
>So he jumps on the plane not alone but with a happily-married
>35 year old female person with whom the hypothetical male has
>been having a affair for eighteen months.
>Enter hypothetical male with companion into room containing
>hypothetical parents (2) and hypothetical grandparents (4) and
>hypothetical brother (1).
>What does he introduce the female person as?
>And how does he get the same bed with her that night?  Hoo-boy.
>
>This is all hypothetical, of course.

Right.

Here are some suggestions for introductions and so on.  The author
(me) assumes no responsibility for the success or failure of any
of these approaches:

1) "Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet Wilbur.  He's an old college buddy
    of mine.  I thought you'd be fascinated to see him -- isn't that about
    the most amazing makup job you've every seen?  But don't worry --
    he's straight, so there's no problem putting us in the same room
    tonight."

2) "Hi!  Folks, this is Wilma.  She followed me home.  Can I keep her?
    I'll feed her and walk her, and she can sleep at the foot of my
    bed.  Pretty please?"

3) "This is Sheeba, my sex therapist.  You'll have to put us in the same
    room tonight, or all we've worked for will go for naught and I'll
    probably regain my sick lust for little boys covered in mayonaise."

4) "Grandad, this is Hesther.  She's helping me with my project in
    civil disobedience -- we're going to sleep together and violate
    not only state laws against adultery, but the federal Mann Act.
    As citizens, it's our duty to protest stupid laws -- don't
    you think?"

5) "Grandmother, I'd like you to meet Bitsy.  You know how cold
    it always gets in my room at night?  Well, I brought Bitsy
    along so I wouldn't catch pnuemonia and die and ruin the
    whole weekend for Mom and Dad."

6) "Dad, I must have inherited it from you.  I made one mistake with
    Yolanda here, and she won't let me be.  She claims she's never met
    a man like me, and unless she spends every night with me, she'll
    phone her husband, Guido, and tell him that I kidnapped her.  Dad,
    I don't think any of us want Guido to violate the conditions of
    his probabtion."

7)  "Folks, remember how I work in computers?  I'd like you to meet
    one of the projects I've been working on -- X-13/A.  This is a
    state-of-the-art project in robotics.  I'm sorry I had to bring
    work home with me, but we've gotten a rush order to test these
    out.  I'm afraid I'm going to be up all night tinkering with
    this prototype model, but I'll just work in my room with
    the door closed so as not to disturb you."

8)  "I'd like you meet my employer, Maybelline.  She and her husband
    want children, but Herbert is infertile, so they hired me to serve
    as the father.  I'm sorry I had to bring work with me during your
    anniversary, but you can imagine how critical proper timing is
    with something like this, and by our calculations, 1:03am is
    the peak time for me to punch in, so to speak."

9)  "Francine here is a nurse.  I had an injury recently that causes
    me to go into seizures and stop breathing during the night while I
    sleep.  She's been assigned to stay with me at night to save my
    life when it happens.  Don't fret about it much -- she's highly
    trained and has brought all the necessary equipment.  Thank
    God for Medicare and modern medicine!"

10) "Happy Anniversary folks!  This is Agent Smith, of the...er...
    well, a Federal agency.  I can't tell you what I've been doing
    at work recently, but she is supposed to be with me 24 hours a
    day.  If you see any strange cars in the neighborhood, let
    her know immediately."


Good luck.  And let me offer a bit of advice from experience 
(and a line you've probably heard already): be careful not
to leave any marks.
-- 
Gene "6 months and counting" Spafford
The Clouds Project, School of ICS, Georgia Tech, Atlanta GA 30332
CSNet:	Spaf @ GATech		ARPA:	Spaf%GATech.CSNet @ CSNet-Relay.ARPA
uucp:	...!{akgua,allegra,hplabs,ihnp4,linus,seismo,ulysses}!gatech!spaf

annab@azure.UUCP (A Beaver) (02/22/85)

>References: <191@dmcnh.UUCP>

> [Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet a close friend of mine....]
> 
> OK.  Say a hypothetical 21 year old single male person was invited
>..........
> So he jumps on the plane not alone but with a happily-married
> 35 year old female person with whom the hypothetical male has
> been having a affair for eighteen months.
>.........
> What does he introduce the female person as?
 answer: [Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet a close friend of mine....]

> And how does he get the same bed with her that night?  Hoo-boy.
 answer:	Get a Motel room close by if the folks have hang-ups
		about sex. Obviously the couple in question doesn't.

	'I' was always under the impression that when a kid leaves
	home, he/she's on their own. And 'most'folks who have gotten
	far enough in life to have children of age 21, realize just 
	how 'human' their children are.	(remember the 'terrible twos')

	And besides, if you have been spending time together for 18
	months, I'm sure that there must be OTHER quallities to
	the relationship.

	 Annadiana Beaver
	A Beaver@Tektronix		"Coi-tus-in-to-rup-tus-bon-us-mey-um"
					"Ki-mo-sa-bi-wat-chum-what-chu-say-um"
					"Lord, have mercy on my so-o-o-oooo-lo"
						-Peter Schickele-
						 as the monk in
					    Hansel & Gretel & Ted $ Alice

chuqui@nsc.UUCP (The Phantom) (02/23/85)

In article <191@dmcnh.UUCP> gts@dmcnh.UUCP (Guy The Schafer) writes:
>OK.  Say a hypothetical 21 year old single male person was invited
>to the home of his hypothetical parental units for an anniversary
>party to be held about 1000 miles away.
>So he jumps on the plane not alone but with a happily-married
>35 year old female person with whom the hypothetical male has
>been having a affair for eighteen months.
>Enter hypothetical male with companion into room containing
>hypothetical parents (2) and hypothetical grandparents (4) and
>hypothetical brother (1).
>What does he introduce the female person as?

How about ~mom, dad, this is my best friends wife....~

>And how does he get the same bed with her that night?  Hoo-boy.

Quietly...  *grin*

Absurdly,
	chuq (my parents aren't hypothetical...)
-- 
From behind the eight ball:                       Chuq Von Rospach
{cbosgd,fortune,hplabs,ihnp4,seismo}!nsc!chuqui   nsc!chuqui@decwrl.ARPA

We'll be recording at the Paradise Friday night. Live, on the Death label.

jss@sjuvax.UUCP (J. Shapiro) (02/25/85)

[Pacman's revenge...]

	This one is too good to resist.....

> A hypothetical 21 year old single male person was invited
> to the home of his hypothetical parental units for an anniversary
> party to be held about 1000 miles away.
> So he jumps on the plane not alone but with a happily-married
> 35 year old female person with whom the hypothetical male has
> been having a affair for eighteen months.
> Enter hypothetical male with companion into room containing
> hypothetical parents (2) and hypothetical grandparents (4) and
> hypothetical brother (1).
> What does he introduce the female person as?

His lover or girlfriend (whichever the parents/grandparents can handle).
This assumes that they don't know she is married.  Personally, it seems to
me that bringing this person to an anniversary is potentially a very cruel
thing to do, and in all likelihood the guest shouldn't be brought precisely
because of this kind of problem. It depends on the family reaction. Sometimes 
the best thing to do is to avoid treading on other people's beliefs and 
sensitivities even at some cost to oneself for the sake of those peoples' 
feelings.

On the other hand, I wouldn't be caught dead seeing a married woman
because I am a believer in monogamy and think affairs are as a general
thing are not a good idea.  There are exceptions to this, but only when all of
the people involved know what is going on and agree to it (including, in
this case, the husband).  I might well not mind my wife doing such a thing
if I were informed, but I would not engage in extramarital sex without
extreme circumstances. It would upset me greatly if I were not informed,
and this is something I make sure the people I see in a one-on-one
relationship know. It is not that I disapprove, but I feel it
reasonable to ask that I know about things which may affect the
relationship I am in where this is possible.

The point of this is that I am hardly seeing this from the hypothetical
person's point of view, so I am sure their are things I don't
see.

> And how does he get the same bed with her that night?  Hoo-boy.

If you need to ask this question, it is probably because your
folks/grandfolks feel or would hypothetically feel very uncomfortable
about this. Can the sex possibly be so important as to be worth involving 
such discomfort? The question, in general, when posed between the
generations, is a hard one even without the additional difficulties thrown
in.  My feeling is that I respect my parents feelings about what is proper
decorum in their house.  I prefer (in part for this reason) to live outside
of the house.  If the hypothetical parental units are amenable to this sort
of thing the answer is to straightforwardly indicate your preferences as to
sleeping arrangements. If they are not amenable, it is not so much to ask
that their feelings be respected.

> This is all hypothetical, of course.

In the case of my own folks, I once had the conversation with my mom (my
dad assumes I am "careful" and is a little less concerned) which ran:

Me:	Mom, the problem with some of the social advice you give me is that
what is considered morally acceptable today in the college community is
very different from what was acceptable when you were there.  It's not
clear that the moral values are better or worse, but they are decidedly
different.

Mom:	So please explain to me what the moral values are these days.

Me:	The truth is that you will feel much more comfortable not knowing.

She has never asked me again. I would not do this were it something that
need concern her, but I see no reason to cause her unnecessary disturbance.
When I went home for the Jewish High Holidays my girlfriend and I (she came
back with me - it is closer than Fla.) slept in separate rooms and
respected my parents desires that this remain so (There is a 15 year old
sister in the house...). When at school, she has been known to stay with
me, though not very often.  The folks don't seem to mind when she answers
the phone (mainly because they like her), and I am sure that they know she
is sleeping here on occasion. It is a question we have mutually silently 
agreed not to raise, and everyone seems to cope well with this solution.

This is a very thorny topic, and the above are only my off the cuff
feelings, so I hope I don't offend anyone by not thinking sufficiently
before speaking.

By the way, how did the hypothetical anniversary go?

Jon Shapiro
Haverford College

br@duke.UUCP (Balu Raman) (02/26/85)

In article <109@azure.UUCP> annab@azure.UUCP (A Beaver) writes:
>>References: <191@dmcnh.UUCP>
>
>> [Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet a close friend of mine....]
>> 
>> OK.  Say a hypothetical 21 year old single male person was invited
>>..........
>> So he jumps on the plane not alone but with a happily-married
>> 35 year old female person with whom the hypothetical male has
>> been having a affair for eighteen months.
>>.........
>> What does he introduce the female person as?
> answer: [Mom, Dad, I'd like you to meet a close friend of mine....]
>
>> And how does he get the same bed with her that night?  Hoo-boy.
> answer:	Get a Motel room close by if the folks have hang-ups
>		about sex. Obviously the couple in question doesn't.
>
>	'I' was always under the impression that when a kid leaves
>	home, he/she's on their own. And 'most'folks who have gotten
>	far enough in life to have children of age 21, realize just 
>	how 'human' their children are.	(remember the 'terrible twos')
>
>	And besides, if you have been spending time together for 18
>	months, I'm sure that there must be OTHER quallities to
>	the relationship.
>
>	 Annadiana Beaver
>	A Beaver@Tektronix		"Coi-tus-in-to-rup-tus-bon-us-mey-um"
>					"Ki-mo-sa-bi-wat-chum-what-chu-say-um"
>					"Lord, have mercy on my so-o-o-oooo-lo"
>						-Peter Schickele-
>						 as the monk in
>					    Hansel & Gretel & Ted $ Alice

I wonder what moral values you guys out there on the net have ? It is really
sickening to read all these suggestions this college kid is getting from all
you experienced guys/gals out there. Did any of you guys put yourself in the
married guy's position and imagine what it would be like ?     
                                  Balu Raman