Fun_People Archive
6 Sep
Even small losses must be mourned

Date: Mon,  6 Sep 93 23:13:51 PDT
To: Fun_People
Subject: Even small losses must be mourned

[For all those who have wondered over the years why I'm so weird, ... well,
suffice it to say that the following article from my home-town newspaper about
an incident that took place in my old neighborhood is really nothing new for
Greenwich Village... -psl]

 From: vangogh.CS.Berkeley.EDU!bostic (Keith Bostic)

Sunday New York Times: Metropolitan Diary (a weekly column of strange
and wondrous happenings around the city:)

"The scene:  Whole Wheat 'n Wild Berries on West 10th Street.  Two women
-- late 30's, early 40's -- were finishing their entrees.  One of them
proceeded to order gingerbread with fresh whipped cream for dessert.  The
waiter returned to report that the restaurant was out of gingerbread.
Perhaps she would care for something else?  Off he went in pursuit of a
dessert menu.

The woman began to cry.  I mean really sob.  The waiter hesitated to
return, assuming that the two were having an ultrapersonal conversation.
When the sobbing woman calmed down, he approached with caution.  The woman
looked up at him.  "My inner child is really angry that you are out of
the gingerbread," she said.

The waiter just stared, not sure how to respond.  The other woman bent
over and patted her friend's hand. "That's all right, dear, express your
feelings," she said.  "Even small losses must be mourned."

© 1993 Peter Langston