When simple is complicated

Okay, I went to lunch the other day with a friend.  I was struggling to get my umbrella out of the car because somehow it had managed to get stuck on the short trip to the restaurant.  He yelled something to me about hurrying up because it was raining.  Well, duh, that’s why I wanted my umbrella.  Fine, I abandoned the umbrella and rushed into the restaurant.  When we were seated, I asked what the hurry was.  “It’s raining.”  Uhm, got that already.  We placed our order, my salad came.  He knows I prefer to eat it with the rest of my meal.  However, he kept insisting I eat it right then.  I again asked what the hurry was.  “It’s raining.”  Yes, can we be a little more specific than that?  I wanted to have a nice lunch.  Our food comes, I start eating as fast as I can.   Because, hey, it’s still raining and I don’t know how long he’s going to give me to eat at this point.  He gets mad at me, I give up.  I throw down a few dollars to cover my meal, grab what’s left of my sandwich and exit the place.  Later we talked because I wanted to know what was up with him, and why he had acted that way.  Well, it turns out what he meant by ‘it’s raining’ was, “I’m getting sick and I didn’t want to be outside any longer than I need to be.  It might make this cold turn into the flu.  We were in no hurry once we got in the restaurant.  And I only wanted you to eat the salad first because it might not be as crispy if you waited until the rest of the food got there.  I don't know why you were eating like a you hadn't had a meal all week.”  Uhm, what?!  How was I supposed to get all of that out of ‘it’s raining’?  Sure, it’s a bit flattering for him to think I’m that brilliant I could’ve figured it out.  However, I think the only way someone might’ve is if they were a mind reader.  Which, in case you were wondering, I am not.  Why are some people so conservative with their words?  They use so few, you’re left wondering what they’re trying to say?  Yes, some people use too many and just need to cut to the chase already.  However, there are others who use so few there really is no good was to fully understand their meaning.  And in this case, he was mad at me because I wasn’t understanding him.  Yikes, if you want understanding then use more than the 2 words next time.  Sure, I like things simple.  Life is better when things are easy, uncomplicated and straightforward.  However, don’t say ‘rain’ and expect anyone to know what that means.  After all, sometimes, as it turns out, simple can be the most complicated thing in the world.