People we love, who had been out of town for a few months, arranged with us long ago to spend an evening together this past week. We invited them over to our house for dinner. They said, No, no, we want to take you out to dinner. Jane asked me what she should say to them.
As part of the money fast, we have not been eating out no matter who is paying the bill. Otherwise folk who know we are doing a money fast would just pay for things for us and we would not experience the full experience of the fast. This is my reasoning, anyway.
But these friends really wanted to do this. I don't think they even knew about the money fast. I was afraid that they would feel the need to cook if we turned down their invitation to go to a restaurant and I didn't want to put that on them. I also did not want to be ungracious.
So I told Jane to tell them we would be delighted to be their guests for dinner. They asked us to pick the restaurant so we chose one that is very reasonably priced but a great place to talk. We enjoyed our meals, had a long conversation, and it was a good evening.
Sometimes friendship trumps discipline.
I love your last sentence. Sounds like you found a reasonable compromise anyway.
ReplyDeletein my book, friendship/family ALWAYS trumps (financial) discipline. T.C. and I made this a tenet of our fast. So did Lauren Winner-check out Mudhouse Sabbath (I think)
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