please don't breed

Warning: this post is catty.

So I'm sitting in Cafe Artiste grading my 110th "My Name" composition (it's a good thing they all have different names, or I'd be going batty by now) and there's a couple sitting in a booth next to me chatting first-date style, and I say this not only because how they are interacting (she's sitting Indian style with a bottled water, he's nursing a Coke) but because of their conversation topics: "get to know you and your views on the world" type stuff.

And I overhear her talking about presenting in an undergrad class, and how most of her class was born in 1984, except for one girl who nervously admitted that she was born in 1986. So our heroine (Indian-style girl) goes on to say how the class seemed shocked to learn that she was born in 1982, and how she didn't realize that they were all so YOUNG!! It was at this point that I almost wanted to lean over and say, "oh yeah? I was born in..." just for shock value, and because it seemed to be such an enthralling topic for her.

Mary, why are you listening and why do you care?? OK, well I care because she went on to complain about September 11th, and how people seem so shook up about it, when really SHE was the one who had family in New York, and actually people were calling HER on that day, and, you know? (No, I don't know, I comment to myself. What do you want, a medal?)

Their conversation went on like this (as did my grading... 111...112...113...) and the poor boy just kept sipping on his empty coke, unable or unwilling to get a word in, and I wondered if it bothered him that she kept on making stupid obvious observations with the confidence that surely she was the FIRST person to ever make such an assumption.

I don't know why it irritated me so much. Maybe because she was beautiful, and I sort of knew she'd get another phone call no matter what she said. Maybe because she reminded me of a younger, arrogant me. Maybe because she was talking too loud and not drinking coffee in a coffeeshop.

Anyway, the moral of the story here is that I really don't think that other people should date, at least not around me.

[/catty]