Barfight Maki

As a disclaimer, I am going to mention that I am not an angry person. I am not a bitter, violent or malicious person by nature, but... Some people just stir me the fuck up.

So, this evening I went out for sushi dinner with my Mum and brother. The hostess was lovely and seated us at our table, passed us our menus, and went back into the kitchen. Now, I am about to describe our waitress to you.

As soon as this girl stood by our table and asked what we'd like to drink, I could sense how insecure she was. She did not believe in herself, she did not acknowledge her success, and she did not believe us when we smiled at her. Despite all of this, she was smiley and chatty (given, she hesitated and stuttered a lot), and was extremely kind. Mum and I knew what was up, so we made an effort to reassure her and be warm to her so she didn't feel any more nervous than she already was. She fumbled when we asked her the specials, and before she left, said, "I am so sorry, I acted quite foolish." At which we shook our heads and reassured her it's totally okay to forget the specials sometimes. She puttered away.

Upon her return, she knelt down at the table side, notebook in hand. I thought this was a little odd, but she seemed to simply be that way and it didn't really phase me (especially since, to a lot of people, I would seem rather odd, as well). She took our orders, and left.

Now - directly in my line of sight, there was a table for two by the window occupied by two young girls. You can judge me or call me harsh for saying this, but I swear to God you could just smell how conceited they were. They had just asked for the check and I noticed the looks they were exchanging when the aforementioned waitress brought it to them and began to speak. In this restaurant, it's a custom to serve frozen grapes when delivering the check, and the waitress said they were "awesome" while smiling and being all shy and adorable. Then, while reaching across the table for something, she accidentally spilled some tea. Not on either of the girls, from what I saw, but the straight-haired girl looked at this waitress as though she were some disgusting insect. The waitress then left to get some more napkins.

As soon as she was out of earshot, the two girls began snickering and relishing how weird the waitress was. They thought she was so funny that they decided to record what she said when she came back. The straight-haired one pulled out her iPhone and opened the voice recording app. When the waitress came back, they prompted her into a conversation about tea, all the while grinning knowingly at each other and glancing periodically at the iPhone. Later on in the conversation they even photographed and videotaped her as though she were some strange animal, confined in a zoo.

I was so fucking pissed.

Not only is this poor young waitress having a tough time getting the hang of a restaurant gig, but it is so obvious to me that she was not in a place in her life where she could feel confident in herself. She was odd, yes, maybe even a misfit - but these things do not matter. She was kind and gracious and nobody deserves to be put on display as a circus freak of life. I am trying very hard not to judge those two girls like they judged that waitress, but I snapped when I saw them giggling at the recording they'd gotten. They were talking openly about how there were going to show their friends how funny this was, and they kept taking pictures of themselves. Unrelated, but even though I sometimes engage in it, too, narcissism just pisses me right off. It was so obvious that these two girls thought they were so far above the misfit waitress.

I had to go outside to calm down. My heart was beating so hard, my body was twitching with every pump. I walked back in and, just before boiling over and smacking both of them, I calmly walked over and asked, "Hey, why are you guys recording that waitress?"

And I was met with a stunned silence.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about." Said the first one, trying to make me feel like an idiot with a tight smile.

"I knew you'd say that," I replied, trying not to flip the table, "But I've been watching you first record your conversation, then take a picture of her, and now you've recorded a video. I used to do shit like this too, and now I regret it. Maybe you should try to be a little bit nicer to people who are obviously having a hard time instead of making a joke out of them, okay? And I know you're going to make fun of me, later, too, and that's alright with me. Just leave her alone."

And then I sat back down. The straight-haired one looked at her friend and raised her perfectly-groomed eyebrows and scoffed. After getting up to pay the bill, they headed out of the restaurant. I said, "Have a nice day, ladies!" From where I was seated, and with a sarcastic "Thank you" and a furious hair flip, they were both gone.

Obviously not giving a shit or completely unaware that I could still see them through the glass window, they began talking animatedly about what a fantastic adventure that was and how they should make fun of people all the time because they're so much better than everyone. Then they got into their car made of diamonds that gives them manicures while they drive, and laughed all the way home to their platinum mansion while listening to the recording of the weird sushi waitress.

I know I'm being mean, I do. I understand that I don't really have any reason to be so hard on them, given that I'm just as oblivious and disconnected sometimes, but, forgive me, I'm still quite angry. If I were to take a minute to calm down, I'm sure I would say that I wish them well on their life journeys and hope they don't end up with too many D&G-clad chihuahuas and abusive boyfriends. Whoops. Actually, I'm sure I'd say that they probably have a few redeeming qualities too, and though that experience was not flattering at all, hopefully they're actually really nice. I'm sure they have dreams and ambitions and fears like the rest of us. They're people, and people are silly.

I just wish we weren't so keen on hurting each other the way we do. No sarcasm intended, I actually do wish them well, and I hope that what I said is at least a subconscious wake-up call that it's so much more beneficial for everyone if you act with compassion and kindness. It's funny I say that, since I was actually so close to starting a fuckin' brawl. I'm glad I didn't yell like I wanted to. It would have felt good to scare them out of what they were doing, but hopefully this will actually get through.



-Also, we tipped the waitress like $11 on a $40 bill. Hopefully that brightens her day a little bit.