Six Odd Things #1: Saved!

[I've been tagged at least twice already, so I guess I can't dodge this meme any longer. Rest assured, Dear Friends, that it dies with me. I'd like to come up with six things that no one on my Friends list knows, but given that both my boyfriend of nearly 10 years and my brother of over 30 years are on that list, that's too tall an order. But I should be able to come up with some things that neither owenthomas or darkphuque already knows.]

#1: I owe my life to my older brother.

Although I've lived in the Midwest almost all my life (this summer marks the 30th anniversary of our family's relocation to St. Louis), I was actually born in Baltimore and lived there for about a year-and-a-half when I was a toddler. My parents had a small house in the northeast part of the city where I shared a room with my older brother. Although he's only a year older, at the time I still slept in a crib while he was on a kid's bed.

Once during our afternoon nap, the foam mattress he was sleeping on got pressed up too close to an electrical outlet and started to smoulder. I've got no memories of the event, but still I'll wager that I woke up first (I'm a light sleeper; my older brother could sleep through an earthquake) and alerted him to the fact that the room was filling with choking black smoke.

He was too small to lift me out of my crib, of course, but he was sharp enough to go downstairs and find our father, who was napping on the couch. (Dad was a "house-husband" in those days, taking care of us boys while my mother worked as nurse in East Baltimore.) Dad's not a light sleeper either and it apparently took some effort to shake him awake, but my brother managed to do it and Dad came in and rescued me.

This wasn't the only close call during our childhood--my Mom says each of us came so close to death at least once that it made her believe in guardian angels--but it's probably the most dramatic. After that, almost getting my head bashed in by a rock from the neighbourhood bully in Ames hardly compares, does it?

Six Odd Things #2: Besteck

#2: I employ silverware like a reverse European

I wouldn't've known this about myself if e. hadn't pointed it out one day during a family meal. For those of you wondering what I'm talking about: Europeans tend to keep knife in one hand and fork in another. They don't switch hands, as most Americans do; they cut as they go and they don't rest their cutting hand in their lap when not in use. I'm left-handed, though, so whereas most Europeans would have the knife in the right hand, I hold mine in my left.

What I find oddest about this is that I have no idea how and why I picked it up. It's true, I did live in Europe for a while, but I almost never dined out in anything resembling a formal setting. There are European customs I adopted deliberately during my stay, like writing the date day-month-year or starting with the thumb when counting on my fingers, both of which I do to this day. But this wasn't one of them.

Both my younger siblings have also spent a considerable chunk of time in Europe and/or dining with Europeans, but my sister (who was once engaged ot a Spaniard) still eats like an American. My left-handed brother (who actually married a Spaniard) also uses knife and fork like a European, but a right-handed one. Now that's just plain weird.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

What is the appropriate reaction when a complete stranger buys you a drink in a bar?

( Why am I asking? )

Edit: I wonder if I shouldn't've have left out the incidents entirely or saved them for a follow-up post, since I notice almost no one (except qwrrty--I am totally using that line next time I have a chance!) has actually answered the question I asked. I'm not looking for sympathy on my part or empathy regarding others. I just want to know what the etiquette is in situations like these. Can buying a stranger a drink be a friendly gesture or is it always interpreted as a wanna-fuck? Is it impolite to refuse a drink? What is the obligation of the one on the receiving end? I'd really like to know these things lest I put another person I don't know into an uncomfortable position.