I used to wonder about couples who sat quietly eating, not saying much. I thought they were surely mad or tired of each other. But, over time, I’ve learned that’s simply the true spot of comfortable. There’s no pressure to entertain or act cute. Just being together is a privilege.

Jim Brawner and I were having one of those lunches at Chic-Fil-A recently. For fear someone would think we were angry or bored with each other, I asked the loaded question women often ask men, “So, what are you thinking about?”

Instead of the standard issue answer, “Oh nothing,” I was surprised. He very matter-of-factly said, “How much a BMW mechanic makes.”

I looked side to side like he’d given me secret information, “What? Where did that come from?”

“There’s a BMW mechanic sitting behind you and I was just wondering how much those guys make working on high end cars,” he said, like I should know what he was talking about.

“How do you know he’s a BMW mechanic?” I asked, not wanting to turn around to look.

“He has on a shirt with a BMW emblem and Greg embroidered above the pocket, so I figured Greg is a BMW mechanic,” he grinned.

Good thinking! Now that was deep. That’s proof positive men think about where they are at the moment. I was enjoying my grilled chicken and fruit salad wondering if Jason and Alison were having fun on their trip, if the jewelry party Jill hosted to raise funds for Haiti was successful, how Jameson’s first day of school was, and how many calories were in the salad. I was all over the place, but he was focused on the salary scale of Greg, the BMW mechanic.

I smiled back, popped a strawberry in my mouth, grateful he was comfortable being honest with his thoughts.