Stress!

Gary1 · #1 (**permalink**) 07-13-2008

A friend once told me that stress is what happens when the conscious mind overrides the lizard brain when it desperately wants to choke someone who deserves it.

I believe that.

Yesterday, as I was sitting aboard a friend's old Columbia 34 at one of the local marinas, we were all chatting with the folks in the boat in the next slip. A little background. The owners retired a few years ago, and have taken an old Westsail 32 and completely refurbished her until she is truly a work of art. The brightwork gleams with gallons of varnish. The teak deck is gorgeous, which is a real trick here in north Florida where you can grow all manners of nasty things in a teak deck.

Anyway, we're all sitting around enjoying a pint and repartee, and the folks next door's company shows up. The guy is wearing a dark blazer, tan slack and street shoes. The woman is in a (too short for her) cocktail dress and spiked high heels.

The 'welcome' footmat says: "Deck Shoes or No Shoes".
Across the gate is a sign that says: "Deck Shoes or No Shoes."
I don't blame the guy. If my decks looked like that, I'd ask the same, at the very least.

Said guests simply ignore the sign, open the gate and climb aboard. The look on the owners' faces were the perfect description of 'crooked grin'. I thought the male owner was going to choke the guy while his wife choked the woman in her spiked heels.

Always helpful, and never bashful, I said, "Hey, dummies! Can't you read?"

The woman turns and glares at me. "I'm wearing nylons. I'm not going barefooted. Besides, these shoes are brand new. They won't leave marks."

I muttered, "Illiterate and stupid, to boot." My friends agreed silently.

The Westsail owner shot me a look of thanks for being nasty to his wife's friends. Then he said, "You have to take those shoes off. You're going to poke holes in the deck and leave black marks all over everything!"

The would-be guests made noises, and decided to leave. We all sat and watched the pair make their way back up the dock toward the parking lot.

Once they were well and truly gone, we all wound down and laughed a bit.

Some people really do deserve to be choked. Or shot. Or wrapped in extra chain and fed to the crabs.

Grrr.

johnshasteen · #2 (**permalink**) 07-13-2008

Well put and nothing to disagree with.

camaraderie · #3 (**permalink**) 07-13-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary1

Some people really do deserve to be choked. Or shot. Or wrapped in extra chain and fed to the crabs.

Grrr.

Yeah...but just try to get Harry Reid on a boat!

sander06 · #4 (**permalink**) 07-13-2008

Personally, I'd wear high-heel deck shoes on the boat but my wife won't let me.

capttb · #5 (**permalink**) 07-13-2008

But my blazer and the wife's high heels make the difference between "Yachting" and just boating. BTW, my wife wrote off high heels as "A male sexist plot to cripple women" decades ago. We all have our own crosses to bear.
And how dumb was Harry Reid, if you made a shoe bomb wouldn't you get a new BIC lighter to go with it ? Who uses matches anymore?

sailaway21 · #6 (**permalink**) 07-13-2008

(delicately slides a thin post in here to inform that Harry and Richard Reid are neither of them rocket scientists, but Harry is the Senate Majority Leader while Richard was the shoe bomber. Neither have been particularly productive at their chosen avocation.)

capttb · #7 (**permalink**) 07-13-2008

You mean after scratching my head for half an hour to remember who Harry Reid was and coming up with the shoe bomber I still had the Wrong Reid ? Wish I could remember the phone number for that Alzheimer's drug I saw on that radio with pictures thingy last night.

sailaway21 · #8 (**permalink**) 07-13-2008

Were I a boat owner with similar concerns about my decks I would have a suitable supply of clogs or similar slip-ons available at the boarding area. Alternatively, one might inform guests before hand to bring a pair of sneakers to wear on board when inviting them. A considerate host might even have a small folding chair on the dock for them to use when changing shoes.

If you invited someone to a restaurant they were unfamiliar with and the restaurant required a coat and tie you would consider yourself remiss in not informing your guest of this before hand. If you were lucky the restaurant would have a few loaners available. Why would one be any less considerate of potential guest's needs on board your boat? The attitude that your guests should have foreknowledge of the requirements for boarding your yacht is just the type of thing guaranteed to ensure that they avoid it and it's "snobbish" owner in the future. I'm sorry, but that's the way it comes across to non-sailors. Think ahead and plan for your guest's needs. None of us have too many friends that we want to be discarding them over such easily remedied things.

sailingdog · #9 (**permalink**) 07-13-2008

Sway-

There's a fair chance that with someone of the description of the guests involved, that they were told of the proper footwear required, and chose to believe that it did not apply to them. Who the hell wears nylons on a boat?

Capttb-

The shoe bomber was richard reid IIRC.

sailaway21 · #10 (**permalink**) 07-14-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by sailingdog

Sway-

There's a fair chance that with someone of the description of the guests involved, that they were told of the proper footwear required, and chose to believe that it did not apply to them. Who the hell wears nylons on a boat?

Capttb-

The shoe bomber was richard reid IIRC.

I must say that your logic strains credulity. "Who wears nylons on a boat?" Exactly. It doesn't sound like they were either informed or prepared. Your supposition as to applicability is possible. None of which really matters. If you invite guests it your responsibility to see to any special needs they might have or to inform them prior to the visit of any restrictions or limitations to the visit.

The shoe bomber was named a couple of posts back.