Met with my cousin Georges
yesterday for breakfast. He lives in Germany, works for Lufthansa and has been just about everywhere in the world except Bora Bora. It was somewhat discouraging to hear that even in Europe, many of his friends are stuck on the hedonistic treadmill. I thought that keeping up with the Jonses was a primarily North American phenomenon. Never underestimate the power of envy, I guess.
But good times--Georges has the remarkably un-North American ability to talk about anything and everything, and do it for hours on end, over a meal or over drinks. I like the priority that he gives to leisurely conversation.