The ball and chain

Check out the 60-pound weight attached to the groom's ankle. That's the full weight of commitment.


Just because I mean well doesn't mean my efforts are always appreciated.

Last night I was blogging from a restaurant bar when in rolled a party of 15. The young men were celebrating. One of them was getting married, and this was his bachelor party.

I asked permission to take photos of the joyous event, and started snapping away. When the pop of my flashbulb finally died down and I returned to my booth to start writing, I figured that was the end of the story.

But that's when she attacked.

The battleax landed at my table like a bat out of hell. She's married to one of the men, and she was raging angry, demanding to know where my photos--which were tame, by the way--were going to end up.

When I didn't back down, her mouth started spewing bitter venom.

"Do you even have a husband of your own?" she mocked, just before asking if I wanted to fight.

There are those who will criticize me for not defusing the situation and backing down. But in my experience, there's only one way to tame a bully. Stand up to her.

I ordered her to step off. I told her the men had consented to the photographs being taken. And then I called her a "mean mommy" trying to control everybody.

That did it.

She stormed off, and peace was restored.

Holy matrimony.