The Family Dish Towel

When I was a high school senior, I was the captain of the debate squad.  One afternoon, a fellow student showed up in the speech teacher’s classroom. She wanted to compete in a speech tournament, so I took her under my wing. I helped her prepare for the Oratorical Interpretation event at a novice tournament.  As I recall, she did quite well.

Was I motivated to help her because she was attractive? Most likely. We began dating soon after. How could I resist?  Making out with her in the evening was a lot more fun than studying.

Eventually I invited her to a family dinner at my home. Most families have their own unique customs and behaviors: things they do and say that might seem strange to an outsider but feel perfectly normal to members of the family. If I was to sit down with you at one of your family dinners, I suspect you would provide paper (or linen) napkins. So, you might be surprised to learn that when I was growing up – I knew nothing about napkins. At my family dinners we used a single dish towel that was passed around the table. We were family. That’s what we did, we wiped our lips on a communal towel.

You will not be surprised to learn that she was surprised (I might even say “disgusted”, though I never asked her).  But I’m pleased to tell you that she passed that trial by dish towel without flinching. I can also share that there had been other women who saw that dishtowel being passed around and ran for the hills.

The happy ending?  And it was — when we graduated from high school we were married, and though we are no longer together, we have three lovely adult children. Sometimes, you just have to look past the quirky habit to see the charm that lies beneath.

At our wedding we used linen napkins. And our children did not grow up sharing a dishtowel.

Alan