Now it could be because I grew up on the east and west coast, but whatever it is, I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut. This is on the happy side, grumpy side and sad side. It is a rule that I have also taken too long to learn.
Thank you to Lori from Living Out Loud for the chalkboard backgrounds
Saturday my husband and I went to have coffee at a local shop in town called Wild Iris. It is a place that is always bustling with college students, families and just about anyone with a laptop. When we walked in, the place was packed and we planned to sit down outside with our drinks and brownie, but while we waited for our coffees a couple left, and we chose their’s instead. Personally I don’t care where we sit, but the cottonwood trees have been blowing little fluffs all over town and seeing as I’d much rather a fluff-free brownie, a seat inside was a much better idea.
Photo courtesy of my huband.
While enjoying our treats, my husband took photos and I did my usual people watching. I just like seeing the dynamics. I watched as two women left the shop and an older woman walk in. I don’t really know how old she was, but I would expect that she wasn’t far from 70. She had what looked like a book sack and her purse. She set the sack down on a chari at a table and went to the line to make her order.
About five minutes passed and a family of three came in. It looked like a husband, wife and their college student son. The family saw the woman’s bag there, but the husband said something I couldn’t quite hear but I imagine he was telling his wife to just go get their order as he then set his lap top on the roundtop table and started typing away. The son and mother went to get their orders placed.
I was stunned. Seriously stunned! This woman’s bag was right on a seat.
When the woman came back with her coffee, the man dismissively said to her “Did you need a table for four?” She was as blown away as I. He was absolutely dismissive and rude to her and just kept typing away at the laptop like she was an intruder. He even asked “Are you expecting someone?” The sweet little thing picked up her bag and her little coffee cup and wandered a moment looking for somewhere to sit. She came back by looking like she wanted to at the ver least sit in the seat she had saved, and he again said something. This I didn’t hear because I was up and moving to the woman to invite her to the table my husband and I had. We were ready to go, and I wanted to offer her a place to collect herself.
She was very dear and said thank you. I was happy to have had the place for her and honestly would have asked her to join us if we hadn’t been leaving. I hurt for her.
This man was a bully. I imagine he was about my husband’s and my age. He had the most horrible attitude I had ever seen and behaved in a way I had never imagined. How anyone could treat a woman like this is beyond me and I can only imagine how he treats his own wife (sad to say). Part of me wanted to pull out my east coast and go off on this creep. I wanted to pull out every colorful word I knew and make up a few new ones, but the truth is, he wouldn’t have been touched by it anyway, and it may have escalated into something that would have upset that sweet woman more. Afterall, we were leaving. It was better to just show her the kindness that he lacked and let it be.
I would have felt better if I let him have it, but the woman who would be staying behind might not.
How would you have handled it?
Leave a Reply