I had the unfortunate displeasure of witnessing, or rather being plowed into by, a conversation that rattled me to the bones.
The set up. Parallax in Tremont. Had a long day. Went for sushi to unwind and avoid cooking at home.
We sat down in a booth on the bar side of the restaurant.
A gawfaw with more power than Santa's ho ho ho's, with more testosterone that the incredible hulk, and with more stupidity than...well I'll go with a movie here....Super Bad.
A glass slammed onto the table followed by two solid thumps of mallet-demanding fists. My seat shook. My head thumped.
I got up and moved my seat to share the same side fo the table as my date.
I was now in clear view of exaclty what I was missing.
Two men. Fifities. Bolstering each other's egos. Feeding their swelling livers. Disturbing EVERYONE in the bar.
Had it been all in good fun. Okay, well that's one thing. Two buddies catching up. Sharing laughs. Having a good time. I get that. I can get past that.
But this is what i heard...minor paraphrasing...but damn close.
Arrogant 1 "My son and I were driving and he starts crying like a woman"
Arrogant 2 " Gawfaw. Like a f'in woman. Where were you?"
Arrogant 1 " East 185. He says 'dad you can do such big things in life, but I can't.'"
Arrogant 2 " Your in the f'in ghetto and he's crying like a f'in woman."
Arrogant 1 "He's sobbing and crying, so I got out of the car."
Arrogant 2 "In the f'in ghetto."
Arrogant 1 goes on to speak on the humilation he has over his son. He left him to deal with his own problems.
Arrogant 2 chimes in with fist and fury about how Arrogant 1's wife is an enabler. Why? Because she supports her son living with is girlfriend when they aren't married. He wishes she'd see that she deserves a "normal" family. But he "sends his love."
They are shouting their way through a maze of f bombs and self fulfilling illusions about their power over the world and superiority over those they know.
Dripping with disgust over the perceived failure of Arrogant 1's son.
Using the N word like their jobs entitle them to judge and offend whoever is in earshot.
Even worse, not even noticing that anyone was within earshot to hear the entire series of proclamations or to be disturbed by the hefty outbursts and pounding on the table.
At the end of it all, Arrogant 2 brings up some situation where Arrogant 1 proposed watching porn on a trip to a bunch of his buddies.
Arrogant 2 didn't want to watch porn. He's "religious".
Arrogant 1 doesn't put on the porn.
Arrogant 2 says, "You are a good man. A real good man. You are on the side of God."
Yes, definitely. Arrogant 1 is a man on God's side. And Arrogant 2 is just the man to judge that.
What a pair.
I pray for the Arrogant 1's poor son. That he turns out to be a better father than his is. And that he knows it's ok to have emotion. That is better than what he was offered that night. That the real shame belongs to a failed father with a closed mind.
I pray that the other man doesn't have children or a wife. And that at some point someone kicked him out of Parallax and sent him on his merry way. IN A CAB.
The set up. Parallax in Tremont. Had a long day. Went for sushi to unwind and avoid cooking at home.
We sat down in a booth on the bar side of the restaurant.
A gawfaw with more power than Santa's ho ho ho's, with more testosterone that the incredible hulk, and with more stupidity than...well I'll go with a movie here....Super Bad.
A glass slammed onto the table followed by two solid thumps of mallet-demanding fists. My seat shook. My head thumped.
I got up and moved my seat to share the same side fo the table as my date.
I was now in clear view of exaclty what I was missing.
Two men. Fifities. Bolstering each other's egos. Feeding their swelling livers. Disturbing EVERYONE in the bar.
Had it been all in good fun. Okay, well that's one thing. Two buddies catching up. Sharing laughs. Having a good time. I get that. I can get past that.
But this is what i heard...minor paraphrasing...but damn close.
Arrogant 1 "My son and I were driving and he starts crying like a woman"
Arrogant 2 " Gawfaw. Like a f'in woman. Where were you?"
Arrogant 1 " East 185. He says 'dad you can do such big things in life, but I can't.'"
Arrogant 2 " Your in the f'in ghetto and he's crying like a f'in woman."
Arrogant 1 "He's sobbing and crying, so I got out of the car."
Arrogant 2 "In the f'in ghetto."
Arrogant 1 goes on to speak on the humilation he has over his son. He left him to deal with his own problems.
Arrogant 2 chimes in with fist and fury about how Arrogant 1's wife is an enabler. Why? Because she supports her son living with is girlfriend when they aren't married. He wishes she'd see that she deserves a "normal" family. But he "sends his love."
They are shouting their way through a maze of f bombs and self fulfilling illusions about their power over the world and superiority over those they know.
Dripping with disgust over the perceived failure of Arrogant 1's son.
Using the N word like their jobs entitle them to judge and offend whoever is in earshot.
Even worse, not even noticing that anyone was within earshot to hear the entire series of proclamations or to be disturbed by the hefty outbursts and pounding on the table.
At the end of it all, Arrogant 2 brings up some situation where Arrogant 1 proposed watching porn on a trip to a bunch of his buddies.
Arrogant 2 didn't want to watch porn. He's "religious".
Arrogant 1 doesn't put on the porn.
Arrogant 2 says, "You are a good man. A real good man. You are on the side of God."
Yes, definitely. Arrogant 1 is a man on God's side. And Arrogant 2 is just the man to judge that.
What a pair.
I pray for the Arrogant 1's poor son. That he turns out to be a better father than his is. And that he knows it's ok to have emotion. That is better than what he was offered that night. That the real shame belongs to a failed father with a closed mind.
I pray that the other man doesn't have children or a wife. And that at some point someone kicked him out of Parallax and sent him on his merry way. IN A CAB.
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