When 25% indoor dining resumed a short time ago, my son and I went to one of our favorites, a restaurant in Marin. Shortly after sitting down, a gentleman brought over 2 large glasses of ice water. Immediately I said, “Oh, we would like water with no ice, please.” As he was removing the glasses, my son said to him, “It’s okay, I’ll keep the ice water.” As we just had acupuncture treatments, I then said, “Well, acupuncturists don’t recommend ice water as it can interfere with digestion.” With his cold stare I knew my comment was off-putting. He then uttered, “Differentiation, Mom!” My immediate response was, “I get it, sorry, and just delete!“ Whew - we recovered and had a nice dinner. Later at home, I started playing with this word perhaps in reverence to his desire and need for individuation.
