Not fitting in?

Lunching at a fast food shop can be an unpleasant experience when it is crowded with almost all tables occupied. The food is not the cause of displeasure as there is never much to be expected from fast food. The long wait at the queue, though pestering, is accepted as part of the package. What hinders the eating enjoyment is the noise all around. You wonder why people need to talk at the top of their voices while eating.

The noise is more tolerable if it comes from children. After all, shouting is their right. But often time you find yourself in the midst of a family discussion with every detail forced into your ears. I once overheard, much against my will, a presumably divorced couple complaining about their share of responsibilities over their child. The man asserted that he could afford his care of the child for only three days a week as his mother had regular appointments with her mahjong friends. Against this the woman, her face distorted with anger, protested strongly, condemning this as a violation of their divorce agreement. The worst part of it was that the argument was taking place in the presence of the young child, who was seemingly absorbed in his plate of food with hardly any expression on his face.

Another time I had the bad luck of being within earshot of a group of teenagers sharing about their school day. They wouldn’t bother to hide their roaring laughter with occasional outbursts of vulgar words. What’s wrong with teenagers’ happy talk? You may ask. Well, if only you had heard what they said! A boy boasted of his trick of hiding the cheat sheets up the sleeves of his shirt during a test. Another laughed at the poor eyesight of the invigilator. What enraged me was not their dishonesty but the shameless way in which they bragged about it, indifferent to the disapproving eyes around them.

It is a blessing to have quiet neighbors, of course. But the ‘peacefulness’ is not always the kind you desire. Quite a few times I found myself eating with the neighboring table occupied by a family. There was hardly any exchange of words among them. The daddy was absorbed in a magazine or newspaper. The mother was busy feeding a toddler, glancing at the cell phone from time to time. The boy, obviously the toddler’s brother, was lost in a cell phone game, unconcerned about the taste of the food he put in the mouth.

Ultimately, the trouble is not about eating in a fast food shop. Is it the social phenomenon that I find disagreeable? Or is it the trouble of not fitting in the present social norm? Is this another sign of aging?