Dont understand - ami collection

amother

Wed, Apr 24 2024, 10:36 pm

I enjoy reading the Ami Collection (short stories) on yomtov afternoon.

I didn't know what to make of these endings - I am curious what others thought.

1) The mother of boy who approached girl in coffee shop.
Is the author trying to illustrate that the mothers are literally doing the same thing so we shouldn't think of it as so weird? Or did I not understand the ending?

2) "Exposed" I for the life of me cannot understand the ending. Can anyone explain?? Why does it say "Sheva couldn't bear to"? I feel like I am missing something

chestnut

Wed, Apr 24 2024, 10:38 pm

Just was gonna post about the first story. It was sorta cute until the ending. So weird.

amother

Wed, Apr 24 2024, 10:55 pm

chestnut wrote:

Just was gonna post about the first story. It was sorta cute until the ending. So weird.

I'm just not sure why the girl and her coffee partner acted like it was so weird if they were literally doing the same thing. And also what is the author's point? That the mom is weird, or that she isn't? There should be a stigma or there shouldn't?

chestnut

Wed, Apr 24 2024, 11:01 pm

amother OP wrote:

Probably that it's not weird and shouldn't be a stigma. But a prospective shidduch 's mother meeting a girl in a coffee shop - EWWW! Hope it doesn't become the norm

chestnut

Wed, Apr 24 2024, 11:01 pm

Or maybe, for every person who we think is weird, there's a weirder one?

amother

Coral

Wed, Apr 24 2024, 11:06 pm

The last story was so not realistic to break off a shidduch from one picture without doing research??

The story of the couple that each ended up at their in-laws was weird. How does that happen? Did they each have their own suitcase?

amother

Salmon

Wed, Apr 24 2024, 11:06 pm

The 1 about the couple who each went to their inlaws alone was old

amother

Wed, Apr 24 2024, 11:10 pm

amother Salmon wrote:

The 1 about the couple who each went to their inlaws alone was old

what do you mean old?

amother

Wed, Apr 24 2024, 11:10 pm

amother Coral wrote:

I just did not understand the ending at all. Sheva married someone else - and couldn't break the news to her ex-fiancee - news that he already knew because he had researched it? So confused.

amother

Salmon

Wed, Apr 24 2024, 11:11 pm

amother OP wrote:

what do you mean old?

It was a good 1 but reprinted

amother

Wed, Apr 24 2024, 11:11 pm

amother Coral wrote:

the story said they packed separately...

chestnut

Wed, Apr 24 2024, 11:15 pm

amother OP wrote:

I just did not understand the ending at all. Sheva married someone else - and couldn't break the news to her ex-fiancee - news that he already knew because he had researched it? So confused.

Sounded to me that he researched it after their break because he did it after his grandfather passed away. During their engagement he was still alive.

amother

Wed, Apr 24 2024, 11:24 pm

chestnut wrote:

Sounded to me that he researched it after their break because he did it after his grandfather passed away. During their engagement he was still alive.

Thank you - you helped me discover what I was missing. I was reading the sentence wrong. Sheva couldn't bear to imagine if she had married Yonah. I thought it was saying she couldn't bear to tell Yonah the truth (which he already knew).

chestnut

Thu, Apr 25 2024, 1:16 am

amother OP wrote:

But why she couldn't bear to imagine if she had married Yonah? She was still not over it?

amother

Babyblue

Thu, Apr 25 2024, 1:21 am

amother Salmon wrote:

It was a good 1 but reprinted

I thought I remembered reading it before!

amother

Hydrangea

Thu, Apr 25 2024, 2:08 am

chestnut wrote:

But why she couldn't bear to imagine if she had married Yonah? She was still not over it?

I thought she couldn’t bear to tell him that’s why she broke the shidduch off. It was very interesting wording.

amother

Skyblue

Thu, Apr 25 2024, 2:28 am

The only story I enjoyed was the one where the son helped out his father's business. All the others were silly, unrealistic, or just plain weird. Like what's the point in the one with the guy who fell for the scam while he was going through a divorce?

amother

Thu, Apr 25 2024, 8:15 am

chestnut wrote:

But why she couldn't bear to imagine if she had married Yonah? She was still not over it?

It seems so

amother

Wine

Thu, Apr 25 2024, 8:31 am

Most of the time I never read those stories.
They’re all strange and odd snd the stories have no ending. So weird.

amother

Scarlet

Thu, Apr 25 2024, 8:34 am

You are making it sound like there is some thought put into these stories, for some kind of lesson. The stories are there to fill up the magazine because they need to sell it. It's not because you are necessarily going to come away satisfied from it or you are going to learn a valuable lesson from it.
It is disappointing to spend so much money and come away feeling like there's no ending or it tastes like spoiled milk.