(((((((((((((((((((((((((Lee Ann))))))))))))))))))))))))

I usually wind up "exploding" way before what you went through. I would have told my mom (or stepmom) that she had been insensitive to invite a gang for supper. I would have found some other place to go to study -- my office, a libary, a bookstore -- and made a big point of banging my way out of the house, probably with one of those sarcastic rejoinders as I slammed the door: Now I can't even study in my own home -- making sure everyone heard -- but leaving quickly so that no one would have time for a comeback.

Childish, oh yes. But I wouldn't have been able to be as nice and accommodating as you. I know that in my heart and from my behavior patterns my whole life long.