A Random Thanksgiving Conversation

Ever bump into someone and start having a funny conversation about nothing, a la Seinfeld? Well, that happens to me all the time. In this new "series," I am going to re-tell these random discussions with as much accuracy as I can, for no other reason than because I want to.

While walking out of the JCC the other day, I was stopped and greeted by my friend Lisa. She picks up from gymnastics when I drop off for swimming, so we now have a sort of planned-unplanned chat every Tuesday in the hallway while waiting for our children. Here is our most recent:

Lisa: Hi! How are you?

Me: Good, thanks. What's up?

Lisa: I think you should be writing about Pinterest. I'm on there, and like, why isn't Julie writing about this?

Me: Because I'm kind of dis-Pinterested in it.

Lisa: You are? You're dis-Pinterested? I just joined and I think it's so great!

Me: Ah, you just joined, maybe that's why. And there are pretty pictures.

Lisa: Also, it really speaks to my OCD! This one woman collected all her recipes and she photographs the food. It's a great place for Thanksgiving ideas!

Me: Ah, you want Thanksgiving ideas. I don't. I just do the same boring thing every year and hate it.

Lisa: See, that was me and my sister and mom before! We made all this food that no one even wanted to eat!

Me: Welcome to my holiday table!

Lisa: But now I've got all these fun ideas from Pinterest. I've even printed out this thing, it's a Thanksgiving trivia questionnaire and I'm going to put one on everybody's seat. It asks things like, how many feathers does a turkey have?

Me: (Actually wanting to know the answer to this question, oddly enough.) That sounds fun! I think my family should just come over to your house for Thanksgiving.

Lisa: (Not taking the bait.) Also, I learned something else about technology this week. I learned from my younger cousin that Facebook is (insert dramatic pause here) for old people.

Me: Old meaning us?

Lisa: Yes. Apparently, younger people are Instagramming.

Me: Jeez. I don't really even know what that is. Just taking pictures?

Lisa: I asked my cousin if she uses Facebook at all, and she's like, "Yeah...I go on a little bit, every once in a while..."

Me: Maybe that's because Facebook is now the best way to complain about having no electricity, and how hard your kids' math homework is, so...maybe it really has become where old people hang out in cyberspace.

Lisa: I'm telling you, Instagram.

Me: Huh. Well, Happy Thanksgiving!

Lisa: You, too!

Columnist and blogger Julie Gerstenblatt writes with humor and candor about her life in Scarsdale, her friends and family, and the particular demands of motherhood and wifedom in modern-day suburbia. She recently published her first novel, Lauren Takes Leave.