Word: thorstein
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Dates: during 1990-1990
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...cold stare through his steel- rimmed spectacles, though sometimes it is necessary to bark a few brusque commands in order to send it scurrying. India, on the other hand, has a more coquettish relationship with it: she takes painting classes, flirts momentarily with divorce, psychoanalysis and the ideas of Thorstein Veblen. But whether the Bridges are confronting a tornado that Walter refuses to let interrupt dinner, their children's romantic and sexual hubbubs, a friend's suicide or simply the long silences of their own relationship, there is never any question about who is in charge around here...
...least, the easiest way to flatter someone is to say, "You must be very busy." (And the most disconcerting answer is, "No, not really.") It is today's ritualistic form of obeisance. It means, "You must be very important." We've come a long way in the century since Thorstein Veblen wrote about "conspicuous" or even "honorific leisure" as a way of displaying social status. "Gosh, you must have nothing at all to do all day," would not be considered a compliment...