Meine Gute, y'all.

Kristen, Alexa, Maggie, and I went to see The Help tonight. I loved the book and the movie was a very good adaptation of it. The film was written and directed by the best friend of the novel's author, and he grew up with her in Mississippi, so it feels very true to the book's spirit. Viola Davis was amazing as always, but I think Octavia Spencer stole the show as Minnie. I'd love to see her get an Oscar nomination. (And the little girls who played Mae Mobley broke my heart clean in two.)

But! More entertainment awaited us when the credits rolled. A large group of young women sitting in the row behind us (and whom I'd had to shush during the film) erupted into thunderous applause as the movie ended, leaping to their feet and seemingly overtaken with emotion. Then at least one of them broke down into sobs as she was comforted by her companions. I mean, this woman was distraught. I immediately felt awkward. I don't do well when people cry in my presence. I do not, like Truvy, cry with them. I freeze like a deer in headlights and wait for someone to come to my rescue.

I leaned over to Lex and hissed, "Are the people behind us weeping?" She assured me they were. I assured her that I felt extremely uncomfortable. I would have exited the theater immediately, but I really like to stay for the credits.

Imagine my surprise, nay, my shock, to discover that these women were German. German! I don't know... call me xenophobic, but between the ovation and the blubbering, I guess I wasn't prepared for Germans to exhibit such a display of emotions. Unless said emotions are, like, yelling at people in harsh voices. (I am such a citizen of the world.) I felt frozen in my seat, afraid that if I leaned over to speak to Lex or Kris it would look like I was gossiping about the sobbing Germans, which I would absolutely be doing, but I still didn't want to be caught doing it. So instead I texted Alexa, "The weeping Germans are FREAKING me out!" And she texted back, "Trust!" which I didn't understand at all but she assures me is current UPJ slang, which made me feel both xenophobic and old.

So, that was my night.