judges
I was in a coffee shop recently, sitting quietly in a corner, sipping on my "small with one milk", when I heard one of the staff call, "Excuse me?"
A group of five young ladies, about to walk out the door, stopped.
"I gave you the wrong bagel," the woman said.
"Oh!" One of the young women returned to the counter, handed the woman a paper bag. I noticed a gentleman standing at the counter smile and nod at the girl. His bagel?
Her companions came back into the shop, standing at the counter as the woman behind the counter made the girl the bagel she had asked for. I noticed they were all so young, maybe in their early twenties at most, each very pretty in her own way, but all dressed alike in lululemon yoga tights. They cheerfully chatted quietly amongst themselves, smiling at their friend, telling her not to worry when she apologized for making them wait. They each clutched various combinations of paperbags and coffees-to-go.
The woman behind the counter handed the girl a paper bag, apologizing. The girl thanked her and assured her it was all right.
As the girls headed out the door of the coffee shop again, letting in a blast of the icy wind from outside, I heard a man sitting at one of the other table grumble,
"F------ girls."
Surprised, I looked his way. The man was middle-aged with a pronounced beer-belly. He looked to be a labourer, dressed in the warm coveralls that those who have to work outside in winter weather often wear. He was addressing a grey-haired man, maybe in his seventies, who was sitting in the corner.
"Just cause trouble. Never worked a day in their lives, " the older man agreed.
"Hang around all day," added a third man.
Three men, each sitting about two tables away from each other, nodded in mutual disapproval, smug in their superior what? age? maleness? what?
A group of five young ladies, about to walk out the door, stopped.
"I gave you the wrong bagel," the woman said.
"Oh!" One of the young women returned to the counter, handed the woman a paper bag. I noticed a gentleman standing at the counter smile and nod at the girl. His bagel?
Her companions came back into the shop, standing at the counter as the woman behind the counter made the girl the bagel she had asked for. I noticed they were all so young, maybe in their early twenties at most, each very pretty in her own way, but all dressed alike in lululemon yoga tights. They cheerfully chatted quietly amongst themselves, smiling at their friend, telling her not to worry when she apologized for making them wait. They each clutched various combinations of paperbags and coffees-to-go.
The woman behind the counter handed the girl a paper bag, apologizing. The girl thanked her and assured her it was all right.
As the girls headed out the door of the coffee shop again, letting in a blast of the icy wind from outside, I heard a man sitting at one of the other table grumble,
"F------ girls."
Surprised, I looked his way. The man was middle-aged with a pronounced beer-belly. He looked to be a labourer, dressed in the warm coveralls that those who have to work outside in winter weather often wear. He was addressing a grey-haired man, maybe in his seventies, who was sitting in the corner.
"Just cause trouble. Never worked a day in their lives, " the older man agreed.
"Hang around all day," added a third man.
Three men, each sitting about two tables away from each other, nodded in mutual disapproval, smug in their superior what? age? maleness? what?
posted by Kati at 10:54 a.m.
4 Comments:
Smug in their unintended irony?
hmmm...
tee hee hee!
As a married male, with children, in my late 20s, I have sat with older members (50-60s+) of my fraternity and heard similar comments from them about my generation. With them it stems from a feeling that young men and women should be working long hard hours with their faces to the grindstone to "be responsible for their families". They don't get it when a guy calls in because he needs to stay home with sick children or a woman only puts 40 hours in during the week because she is working on her MBA in the evenings. To them you work whatever the boss asks, whenever he asks to "pay your dues".
I am still wondering what their motivation is or what the trigger was. I'm sure none of them actually was acquainted with the young women. But it sure made me curious about how they could get on their high horses like that! It did make me sad however, that somebody could be so harshly judged presumably on appearances alone!
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