DebbieM4

I'm a Baby Boomer too, and I completely disagree. These are not fair comparisons at all. As a hostess, I would never want to have someone drive away with a dead phone after leaving my home, and as a guest I wouldn't hesitate to ask. Charging a phone is not a big deal, but driving long distances with a phone that's useless very well could be. Hostesses accommodate guests all the time in much bigger and more time-consuming ways. Providing a charger was probably the easiest thing the hostess had done all day. I doubt anyone there gave it a second thought.

Great post! And I also don't see the problem with Beth charging her phone when she arrived. My recollection is that the hostess offered, but even if she hadn't it would be perfectly fine for Beth to ask. Not only should her children (and others) be able to reach her, but it's also a safety issue - She should be able to call for help in case of car trouble, etc. The #1 reason I got my first phone years ago was because I often drove alone at night. It makes no sense for Beth to drive home with a useless phone, especially a long distance, when it takes less than 2 seconds to plug in a charger. I can't imagine that anyone there wouldn't have understood. I don't see it as rude at all.

Intimate details may not be her business, but at one time this was her family too and there's a very long history. I think it would be completely natural for Kevin to tell even a much more casual friend that his sister had just had a baby. I agree with your thoughts re unpleasant messages. There was quite a bit of hostility there, and ridiculing is never okay, especially in this situation when he jumped to the conclusion that she wasn't coming. He was pretty quick to be really nasty. I don't think that's normal in a marriage, and it's certainly not something I would find acceptable.

Exactly. He immediately went to anger and rage, insults and demeaning. A mature adult would have given her the benefit of the doubt, at least initially. Or been worried. There's no reason why he couldn't leave a message that said, "Are you okay? Still coming?" Instead, he jumped right into immaturely insulting her, hitting her right where he knew it would hurt. So much undeserved hostility. It was awful. I was sure she had heard it too, and showed up anyway. Because that's very Beth. And yes, there's just no way to defend what he said. For a supposedly intelligent man, that was incredibly stupid. Anger (if it needed to be expressed at all) should have waited until he knew she was actually a no-call, no-show. But even in that circumstance, belittling her like that was horrible. It was just a dinner, and she's supposedly the love of his life. Randall has completely lost perspective and has a distorted sense of priorities. I hope he enjoys his little foray into politics because it may end up being all he has.

Exactly. That was awful. It was clearly a throwaway line, but it would have been a lot better if Toby had said, "I'm going to call my parents now", and then left. Still a throwaway line, but a lot better than having Miguel call. They have a new grandchild! And the situation is serious! Why should they be included so much less than the Pearsons? (Clearly that was a rhetorical question.) I thought that was handled very clumsily.

Agreed. I have no problem putting aside my utter & complete extreme disdain for her, and concentrating instead on how awful Trump is.

I wasn't referring to feeling sympathetic toward Meghan or the McCain family. Their focus was on Trump and how out-of-line he was to make those comments about Senator McCain. Or about anyone who has served this country in any capacity. No other President (at least in modern history) has ever publicly spoken that way about anyone, and Trump is relentless. That's what they were talking about. I don't feel especially sorry for the McCain family either, but I do share the outrage about Trump that was expressed by Joy & the others. I think we can acknowledge that McCain was not perfect and still be disgusted by Trump continuing to strip away the dignity of the presidency by bullying and attacking. IMO the focus was on Bad Boy Trump, not Perfect Boy McCain. And I think feeling sorry for the family or not feeling sorry for the family is secondary, as are the political leanings of Joy & the others (which you mentioned in the post I replied to). The focus was clearly on Trump and his over-the-top inappropriateness. (Is "inappropriateness" a word?) 🙂

No one was saying that John McCain was perfect. And I'm sure Joy would stand by what she said in 2008 and any other year. I feel the same way that she does. But he has earned respect, and they were talking about Trump's outright and malicious disrespect for him. I'm sure that many of the people who respect John McCain (on this show, on other shows, and in the general population) would not vote for him now if they had the opportunity. But that doesn't mean they shouldn't comment on Trump's completely unpresidential and classless behavior. I didn't see it so much as praising McCain to the skies as calling out Trump for being such a pathetic, disrespectful man.

Great post! I was just about to add to my previous post that it was surprising there weren't other non-Pearsons there too. I didn't see the need for any explanation as to why the Pretzel Lady was there. It's a waiting room, and it's to be expected that there will be other people sitting there from time to time, and some for quite awhile.

I disagree. This didn't seem to be a private waiting room. It appeared to be open to anyone. We also don't know the situation. She might not have been on her way out - It seemed to me that she was just going to be there for a short while, needed to make a couple of phone calls, and then would go back to see her grandchild/daughter. But even if she was headed out, the lobby might have been a long distance away. In a big hospital, it could be quite a trek. She might have wanted to sit for a little while. I don't see anything wrong with that. I've never been in a hospital that had rules about general waiting rooms such as the one the Pearsons were in. She just had a new grandchild. And she sat there. Not a big deal at all, IMO.

I have a recipe for Chocolate Lemon Slices. And chocolate-covered lemon peel is delicious! I think chocolate goes well with all fruit. Agreed. I also don't think it's that unusual for grandparents to move closer to new grandchildren no matter the size of the new mother or the health issues of the baby. A friend of mine and her husband recently moved from NYC to San Francisco so they can help take care of their perfectly healthy grandson, and it wasn't the first time I've heard of people doing that. I didn't think twice when Miguel said they were thinking about moving, and I didn't think it had anything at all to do with Kate's size.

I've also spent long periods of time in hospital waiting rooms with family- for various reasons, including 2 that were quite serious and resulted in family members not surviving. And I've never seen anyone behave the way the Pearsons did. Not us, not any other families. It was exactly as you said - considerate, nervous, but kind. Crying sometimes, but no screaming at each other, no dredging up childhood issues from the past, no little side dramas going on. And always consideration for the other people there. We tried to make things easier for each other by alternately hugging, distracting, taking a walk, etc. It never crossed my mind to take over a waiting room and scream at my siblings or feel that someone out of our immediate circle didn't belong there. Our focus was on the reason we were there, and everything else was pushed aside. The Pearsons acted like immature, selfish assholes, not in a way that is typical of families in that situation. And certainly not acceptable or excusable. Agreed. I've never seen a family behave like that in a hospital waiting room. There's actually more consideration for other people in that situation than there is most places. It's often somewhat of a shared experience with strangers Unfortunately, I've been in that situation several times, and many times there's a genuine reaching out and bonding. But even when not, it's certainly not common for a family to take over a waiting room and use it for their own private primal screaming session. For one thing, hospital staff wouldn't tolerate that kind of disruptive behavior. And for another, people are generally too worried and too focused on their loved one to care about much else. Petty stuff (and in that situation everything is pretty much petty stuff), doesn't matter. I thought most of this episode was boring. And extremely unrealistic.

It didn't at all sound like just a suggestion to me. He didn't seem to even be entertaining the possibility that there could be some form of compromise. His "solution" was that she give up what she wants and he continues on as usual. Beth is the one who always sees the bigger picture and is open to discussion about how to make things in their marriage and family work. Not him, unless she pushes hard to get him to do that. It shouldn't be that way. He should be in the habit of looking outside his own desires and seeing the big picture (what's best for all of them) too.

I disagree that it has zero to do with where they are now. They're a couple, and they need to talk it over and work things out. Finding some balance would be a very good idea. For me, it's not so much about what's happening as the way Randall is handling it. He has an overwhelming "Me first" attitude. He always has, but it's more obvious now and I'm sure the cumulative effect is getting to Beth. He makes decisions which always include putting his desires first while hers are left on the back burner. No doubt she's tired of it. What's going to damage this marriage is Randall's complete disregard for Beth's need to be heard. He's making decisions without hearing her out and he's assuming that she'll just go along with what he wants without even voicing her feelings. He needs to stop talking so much, and he needs to start listening. It would also be good if he was more tuned in to what makes his wife happy rather than focusing so much on himself. She has more than earned that.

Promises being broken all the time doesn't speak well for the bond between spouses, and is not desirable. I've counseled many couples, and would never shrug that off as normal or inconsequential, Yes, there are promises not kept in some marriages. Promises such as "I promise I'll take the trash out before I go to work" or "I promise I won't throw my socks on the floor anymore" are not always kept. But there are different kinds of promises, and Randall's promise was a BIG promise. He made it because he knew that his choice to run required sacrifice by his family and that it would impact all of them in a big way, maybe for a long time. It was by no means a casual promise. If you're talking about honesty and condoning that it's okay to be dishonest with a spouse, I disagree. And as to Randall's promise, it's most definitely not okay for him to make a solemn, what-appeared-to-be-heartfelt promise like that, and then say, "I didn't mean it. I wasn't being honest. Too bad." This is not about taking out the trash or leaving socks on the floor. It's about trust between spouses. There's a reason Beth tossed him some pillows and had him spend the night on the couch. She felt lied to and betrayed. And she was right to feel that way. The only one I see being rigid is Randall. He wants what he wants, and he is not open to compromise. Beth has been beyond flexible all this time, putting up with his eccentricities and also being extremely supportive. She's bent and changed her life a lot to make him happy, but she doesn't get even an iota of that in return. My feeling is that she deserves a husband who keeps his promises and isn't dishonest. I believe that everyone deserves a spouse who treats them with that kind of respect.

I'm so glad you mentioned that! I laughed when she said it.

Absolutely. He always does what he wants, with no thought about his responsibilities. For one thing, he insisted that they take in a troubled girl, and then he ran for office hours away which kept him (and will continue to keep him) away from home for long periods of time unnecessarily. Not to mention buying that building - also not a great idea for a father of 3 young girls who need him to be a presence in their lives. He's choosing to be on the road and sit in traffic (I live in NJ - I know how even shorter trips can end up taking much, much longer) rather than be with his girls, attend their activities, help with homework, etc. I used to really, really like Randall. Now not so much. I want to like him again, but I have a feeling that it's going to end up being too little too late. Not just for many viewers, but for Beth too. I used to find it impossible to imagine that they would ever part ways, but now I definitely can see that happening as she starts to tire of his selfishness.

I don't see this as being about dance at all. It's about the unfairness of Beth unfailingly supporting Randall and not getting any support back. She finally decided to follow her dream and he claimed to be supportive of that, but as soon as they hit a glitch, his expectation was that she would be the one to sacrifice. Not him. I don't know how much of her love of dance she shared with him, but I'm sure he did know about it. I think that whether he did or not is beside the point. He certainly didn't have a lifelong dream of being in politics, but he jumped into it with both feet, it monopolized his life, and for sure it impacts his family. It's not so much about a dream, but about feeling fulfilled - and Beth deserves that just as much as Randall does. (And we've been shown why she didn't do anything with dance in all this time - I don't see that as her fault.) Of course they should have had a discussion about how things would work logistically with the girls and how their family would continue to function as a unit. That's one of the things that bothers me about this show. These supposedly intelligent people apparently skip normal communication steps that most people would take. But dance is not the issue. It could be anything that she feels she wants to do. The point, IMO is that Randall is really striking out as a marriage partner. She's gone along with his wild ideas, and he's let her down twice now recently: First he promised her that he would abandon the race if she ever had a problem with it, and when she asked him to do that, he flat out told her no. Promise broken. And then he was on board with her working as a dance instructor, and he went back on that too. Randall is all about Randall, and he is making Beth feel less important while at the same time teaching her not to trust him. That doesn't bode well for a marriage.

(Please ignore. Reply is below.)

She really was, and I was embarrassed for her. She's ill-informed and really just not that bright. She was getting so adamant about something or other, but even she didn't know what she was talking about. It would have done her a world of good to open her ears and listen, but she was like a dog with a bone. If anyone doubted her lack of intelligence and awareness, I think today sealed the deal. I agree with those who have said that Sunny always acts in a professional manner on this show. We've seen her control herself and ride out several storms with Meghan while maintaining her composure, and that's no small feat. However, I did think it was sort of interesting timing that so recently she was bragging about her hot Latin temper and making a joke out of being so out of control that she throws things with the intent of destroying them - and then today she was all up on her high horse about how temperament matters. Sunny and Gretta are terrible together. Sunny is the worst actress ever, and none of her "Wows!" and gasping come across as the slightest bit credible. She carries on as though everything is innovative and amazing. The two of them together are like snake-oil salesmen. I think Gretta is annoying, but she's much more annoying with Sunny than she's ever been with anyone else. I thought Sara did a good job paired with her. That whole segment is a time-waster, IMO, but Sara and Gretta together were at least fun sometimes. The Sunny/Gretta combo is faked and forced, and makes me want to run from the room screaming. I agree with her too, but she said it as though it's something new. I've been hearing that for decades. Agreed. It's probably best if she stays away from the topic of temperament.

It seems to me that Randall also chose to be a parent. In fact, Deja is only part of their family because he pushed for it. Beth is no more responsible for choosing to be a parent than Randall, and she was quite content being a mother of just 2. Of course "her kids" need her. But they're not just her kids - They're Randall's kids also, and they need him too. I disagree with everything you wrote, but most especially the last 2 lines. I'm not sure what Beth crap Randall has put up with, but this show has certainly shown us a boatload of Randall crap that Beth has handled like a champ. At some point it needs to be his turn to be supportive of her and what she wants. Marriage is supposed to be a partnership, and this one is really, really lopsided.

She's hardly qualified to tell Democrats (or anyone) what they need to do in order to win. I HATE when she goes on and on about that. She's not a political strategist by any stretch of the imagination, and she's also nowhere near as smart or informed as she thinks she is. She's a pompous ass. No, she doesn't. Heaven forbid the truth should actually get in the way of her own agenda.

Exactly! He is 100% focused on himself and on what he wants. Beth has put up with his eccentricities, encouraged him to follow his dreams, and been a loving and supportive wife. He doesn't seem to give a moment's thought to how his actions impact his wife and family, and he just assumes that she'll go along, as apparently she always has. It seems to me that he's learned that he can count on Beth to support him, and he takes full advantage of that without doing the same for her in return. Trying to help a community is admirable. I agree with that. But perhaps he should be trying to help a community that's not hours away. The commute alone eats up a ridiculous amount of time, and that's time he could be with his family. There's plenty of good he could be doing closer to home, but instead he's on a mission, nothing else matters to him, and he expects everyone else to just go along with it. I think it's obvious that he expects that plans to logistically manage the schedules of the girls and provide some level of supervision will require sacrifice for Beth, the girls, and others. But not ever at all for him.

Beth had every right to have a reasonable expectation that Randall would quit because he had told her that he would. He promised that if she ever asked him to withdraw, he would do that. And he went back on that promise. A promise like that, made to a spouse, is a pretty sacred thing. That's the reason, IMO, that he should have quit. Not because of poll numbers or anything else. But because he had made a promise to his wife.

Yes, because her opinion is more important than anyone else's, and she can't understand why no one realizes that! I love the way she gets so offended when she isn't allowed to speak. Even when she just had the floor for a long time. Apparently she thinks everyone else is trampling on HER time because in her mind this is The Meghan McCain Show, and they should only be allowed to say something when she doesn't feel like talking. The pouting and sulking when she has to hold her thoughts for a moment is hilarious. Truly tough people don't have to tell everyone how tough they are. She's all talk in so many ways. And yes, you're right. She's super-rude. Even though I know this, she still manages to shock me on pretty much a daily basis. Apparently Meghan thinks there was a "Miss Republican" contest, and she won.