'A good choice, Bertie,' said Stuart, as he came in to pay for the petrol. 'And how about some chocolate?'-- The Importance of Being Seven
Nobody had ever said that to Bertie before. How about some chocolate? It was not a complex phrase, but its power, its sheer, overwhelming sense of gift and possibility filled Bertie with awe. Well might more of us say those words to others, and more frequently -- how healing that would prove to be. 'Look, we've had our differences, but how about some chocolate?' Or: 'I'm so sorry: how about some chocolate?' Or simply: 'Great to see you! How about some chocolate?'
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
In which we regret, not for the first time, that Alexander McCall Smith is already married
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When my mother and father first started going out together, she was very impressed when she found that Dad would break off a whole row of chocolate at a time, instead of one measly square.
ReplyDeleteGenerosity of spirit is an essential quality in a prospective spouse, I always think.
ReplyDeleteDoes being married stop him from offering chocolate?
ReplyDeleteNo, but it means I can't marry him.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you could enjoy an illicit chocolate offering affair?
ReplyDeleteWell possibly, except (a) he is far too morally finely tuned for such a thing and anyway (b) the whole point with him would be the comfortableness, the opposite of what an affair usually is. One would come home at the end of an exhausting day of shopping and glalleries and lunch and so forth (him being totally loaded by now, I should think) and say 'Hullo sweetie, slaving over a hot keyboard? How about some chocolate?' And then he would make one laugh for the next hour and a half. I feel wistful just thinking about it.
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