Sometimes living with Neal is like playing a perpetual game of $10,000 Pyramid.Neal: What was that one restaurant we went to?
Me: Can you be more specific?
Neal: The one in Chicago.
Me: Again, we've eaten at fine dining establishments all over that city...I'm going to need more.
Neal: Really loud.,.
Me: Uh-huh...and?
Neal: Wine.
Me: Quartino's?
Neal: That's it.
or....
Neal: What was the name of that play we saw that they made into a movie?
Me: Um...well, we've seen a lot of plays.
Neal: We saw the play first and then the movie...
Me: The Vampire Lestat?
Neal: No...
Me: Phantom of the Opera?
Neal: No...There were jail bars...
Me: Chicago.
Neal: That's it.
or....
Me: I found a picture today of you at a concert. What concert was it?
Neal: Hmm...I don't know. Where was I?
Me: I don't know. In some non-descript hallway of an auditorium.
Neal: Not sure.
Me: Have you really been to so many concerts in your life that you can't narrow it down and decide on one?
Neal: No...I just can't remember them all.
Me: Well, you had Gary and Deb with you.
Neal: Hmm...yeah...no clue.
And for the record, when I "need" the answer to something, that's when he plays the "no clue" card. When I ask him about why England's Parliament is so rowdy, that's when he tosses 17 different ideas into the ring, silently hoping I will believe one. This happens a lot. (Tomorrow, I'll tell you about how I learned of the origin of honey. Last night. In bed. While watching Keith Olbermann...who, I admit, is a left-wing wackjob, but I didn't learn it from Keith so it's OK).
Well, now I'm asking nicely for your help. If you don't know, it's quite OK to say "I don't know." And even if you don't know and throw 17 theories at me, hoping one will stick, that's OK, too. But I'm a child of the 80's...I grew up on Kool-Aid and Fraggle Rock and kulats. I honestly have no idea what Neal is referring to and while I'm sure this conversation has slid right out the back door of his brain, it's vexing me. And do you know what you get when you Google "liquid in a pouch?" Well, nothing you can show your Mama, that's for sure. So, here's how it all went down...
Setting: Watching TV as we're getting ready for bed. Some commercial about children's medicine in a to-go packet initiates the whole discussion.
Neal: Huh. It's like those little packets of liquid they used to have.
Me: What little packets?
Neal: Y'know...liquid...in a packet...you'd open it up and suck the liquid out....
Me: Capri Suns?
Neal: No...
Me: Flav R Ice?
Neal: No...y'know...liquid in a packet...
Tip of the day: if you are trying to describe something to someone in hopes of remembering the name, you should use more than just the same 2 words over and over again.
So...I ask you all...what liquid in a packet? Neal was born in the late 60's so I'm assuming it was something very popular in the mid-70's. If you answer correctly, I promise not to automatically assume that you, too, were born in the late 60's. Or earlier. I will simply guess that you have mastered keyword searches. Because as everyone knows, we are all 25.
