What is the Time?

My mother-in-law is in town for visit. Every day, I come downstairs and ask her if she’s hungry and would like some lunch. Every day, without fail, she says, “What is the time?” and looks at her watch, which is still set to Greek time. It’s like our daily ritual.

What does it matter what time it is?! If you’re hungry, then you eat! If it wasn’t lunch time, then why would I be coming downstairs and talking about it?! And furthermore, how does a watch set to the wrong time help her make up her mind anyway?! “Hmmm…I see that it’s 8:00 p.m., so I guess I should eat something.”

It also cracks me up that she acts like she’s doing ME a favor. Like she’s not really hungry, but she doesn’t want me to have to eat alone. She’ll inevitably say, “Eh, I guess I could eat something…something small.” Then, she’ll horf down a large sandwich in three minutes flat.

UPDATE: My spousal unit said that her grandmother would eat at exactly 12:00 p.m. every day, so her mother is now the same way. So, when she’s checking the time, it’s to make sure that it’s not too early to eat!