Lunch and Dinner Talk

Wednesday, 3 Nov 2004 | Observations

I went by myself to lunch today at Carl's Jr. While I was sitting there munching on my Western Bacon Cheeseburger, I noticed a couple of ladies sitting a few seats to the left of me. One was a shy, reserved, pregnant thirty something lady and the other was a woman who appeared to be in her fifties. Sitting across from each other, the older lady was talking about her daughter's wedding and reception. And then about how theaters don't make much money on ticket sales because they have to give a very high percentage back to the studios and how the percentage goes down as the movie is out longer. I wasn't really trying to eaves drop, but I couldn't help but hear her because she talked in a rather loud and brisk tone. What was interesting to me was that the younger lady just politely said yes and uh-huh interspersed with a few short sentences. The older lady completely dominated the conversation. She talked the whole time with hardly a respite for a breath of air.

The other day I was also eating alone at McDonald's and I noticed a family sit down to eat dinner. There was a mother and a father and three children; a toddler girl and an older boy and girl. The boy appeared to be the oldest to me, somewhere in the eight or nine year old range. Well, the youngest girl, who I have to say was very cute, had a rather cranky disposition. I tend to have a rather cranky disposition a lot too. In fact, my mom, a South Korea born U.S. citizen used to always ask me, "Michael, why you so crouchy all the time?" When the word grouchy rolled off her lips, it would come out sounding like crouchy because of her accent and she would often omit verbs from her sentences. Anyway, the boy was quietly eating his food. I noticed that the mom was quite abrupt and altogether not pleasant with the boy and he was doing NOTHING wrong. In contrast, she was ever so pleasant and patient with the crouchy little girl who alternated between making a fuss and just looking downright unsatisfied. I felt bad for the boy because it seemed he could do no right while his cute little sister could do no wrong. I thought it must be hard on him receiving all the frustration from the mom just because he was older and not as cute as he once was. I realize this could be an isolated incident. I only have one child, so this dynamic never comes into play in my life. I just encourage those of you blessed with multiple children (I praise and admire your hard work and dedication) to take a moment to assess whether you're showing enough love to each precious one. :)

Sometimes, the dynamics of relationships intrigue me.

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