I was in a house sitting at a table eating breakfast with a Spanish-speaking family with which I was living. I was planning to marry a girl who was a daughter in the family. We began talking of my plans to go to Paris. Apparently the entire family was going to go with me. We began discussing the type of apartment we would move into.

A second daughter began talking about how the living room should look. The question arose whether the living room should have tile on the floor in the Spanish style or whether it should have carpet like an American living room. The second daughter said she would prefer to have a tiled living room. She said the reason wasn't so the furniture could be moved and dances held in the living room, but she simply wanted it that way.

I said, "Well the reason is maybe you just feel more comfortable in that type of living room, even though you don't plan on moving the furniture out sometimes and having dances in there."

But I didn't say we would have a tiled floor living room in Paris.

I was planning to go to Paris ahead of them and pick out the place where we would live. I thought, "Well, if I get a place with a tiled floor, then maybe this family is going to move in there and stay permanently. And I don't really want the whole family to stay permanently where I'm living. I just want to live with this girl I'm going to marry."

I began thinking about how much I could afford to pay for an apartment in Paris. First I thought, "$50."

Then I thought, "No. $150.'

Finally I realized I could afford to pay as much as $250 a month for an apartment.

I stood from the table and began taking my plates to the sink. No one else rose and took their plates to the sink. Finally the mother and children left the room and I was alone.

I wondered whether I should wash the dishes. I thought, "No. I'll go ahead and put them in the sink but they can wash them."