CHOOSING CHINA

Spring! Typically it's the season for celebrations and June weddings are right around the corner. Because I'm a people watcher I'm always amused when I find myself in the department stores amidst the young couples registering for gifts they dream about receiving on their big day. The bride is always so beautiful, her groom so handsome. One of the major decisions they must tackle is the issue of CHINA! No one enjoys fine china, 1000 count linens, silverware and porcelain more than this mother of sons and my friends agree that the older we get the more we appreciate pretty things. Our houses are usually filled with them. When our boys were smaller I tried really hard to pull out the "pretties" once in a while to make Sundays and holidays different by being a little special. However, I'm convinced that college-educated, handsome, stylish, confidant in the ways of the world, marriage-able age young men could care less about such finery. Watching grooms in the dept. stores and my own personal research among my girl friends has sealed the hypothesis. Rare is the young man that cares whether his broccoli is served on Royal Doulton or Royal Chinet. A bag of chips and a can of something fizzy on the end table during the championship game is most young men's idea of civilized dining. For most men presentation is not the critical factor as we women believe but taste reigns. The China search for the groom needs to last about 12 1/2 minutes. After 15 minutes his eyes are glazed over and he's trying to smile for his beloved but it's that "happy crappy" smile that women can spot in a micro-second. After 25 minutes the frustrated bride must go searching for him in the electronics department of the store which has been strategically placed 14 steps away from the Johnson Brothers china display. When she finds him pricing the latest and biggest and flat-est screened TV that he thinks can be crammed into their studio apartment she becomes so disappointed. Sadly he then becomes the most miserable of all men. Why oh why is he not interested in something that is extremely important to her? If he's astute he has just learned one important lesson of wedded bliss. The needs and emotions of the love of his life must be placed on the front burner of priority. Smart men recover and together they move on to towels. Isn't it interesting that it's usually during the most unexpected daily decisions that we learn the largest lessons...a concept worth celebrating.