Protecting Slate with ..... Slate

We had Paula and Reeves over last night as a final farewell dinner before they leave for Ireland.

After dinner, we all came to sit in the media room. Some of us had glasses of water, others had port.

As we were sitting down, Paula asked, "um, why do you guys use slate coasters on your slate table?"

"Huh?"
"What do you mean?"

Christopher was coming in from the kitchen, and started to crack up! He said that he's always wondered this as well, and just figured, "Well, everyone has their things..."

The funny thing is, this isn't really a "thing". Both Dick and I agreed that we simply hadn't ever thought of it.

Here's the thing...

Dick has a slate-tile coffee table that he's had since the Dick and Pete days. He had already had it when I came into the picture.

Sometime over the past few years, Dick's sister, Meg, had sent these cool slate coasters as a Xmas gift.

Now, I'm in the habit of always using coasters on tables, and I guess so is Dick.

First of all, it never crossed my mind that a slate table wouldn't actually require coasters at all. I mean, what's going to happen to it? A water ring?

So, of course, it's that much funnier to think that we were using our cool slate coasters on top of the slate table.

And, as Christopher has since pointed out, Dick and I both use the coasters religiously, so he just went along with it without question. Now that I think of it, I wonder how many people over the past several years have put their glasses on top of our slate coasters, wondering why we were using them, but not actually calling us on it.

Now that this has been pointed out to us, Dick and I both think that this is hilarious. Of course, we'll both probably use the slate coasters on top of the slate table, just out of habit alone.