The view from the 8th floor

We realize that astronauts can distinguish cities from the outer atmosphere and high-flying spy planes see all, so it should come as no surprise that being on the 8th floor of a hotel affords those below little privacy.

Then why do they act like they have it?

We spent Thanksgiving weekend celebrating our son's marriage on South Padre Island in this very nice and accommodating hotel. Considering the crush of a full house, a wedding, and playing host to several college men's basketball teams and attendant families on the island for a tournament, I really can't say enough nice things about them. We were in an ocean front 2-bedroom condo which had a complete kitchen and a great view of all the beach happenings.

We watched the tent be set up for the wedding. We spotted our family and friends as they played volleyball or walked on the beach. We knew the rest of the hotel was simply holding their breath waiting for the wedding dance music to finally be over. (It had to be by 10.)

We watched a young man and woman argue on the beach volleyball sand. The area was lit, near the hotel patio. A push, a shove. We tensed from our wine-relaxed, pajama-clad solve-the-problems-of the-world discussion. The hoopla of the wedding was over and we didn't know if the couple "belonged" to us or not. It didn't matter. If the contretemps became more serious, we were ready. He sat down in a sulk. She stalked back toward the hotel. Good. Matter over. Whatever he had said, she'd had enough.

Then she turned around and went back to him. She pulled on him to get him up, to get him back to the hotel. He wouldn't budge; he never moved toward her. Finally, she left again and stayed gone. A few minutes later, he went to the beach. We watched a while longer as someone else went out and persuaded him to come back up to the informal party under the tiki hut.

Had they thought to have all this Sturm und Drang in a void? We watched it all and were ready to call security if necessary.

Think about that next time. You're rarely in a void. Someone's on the 8th floor watching.