March 10, 2012

To be a woman

Sometimes there's no glory in being a woman. Today, I went out to lunch with four men. We went to this restaurant called Route 58 where the serving sizes are supersized and when I say supersized, I do mean super! It's a challenge to finish a whole sandwich. I accepted without pause.

I think Thomas and I were the only serious ones about the eating competition. He order the reuben burger, a monstrous thing of meat and cheese falling off a bun. I swear it measured at least half a foot high, maybe more. I got the chicken parm sandwich, though not as high as the reuben, it was long as I don't know what and still packed with plenty of meat and cheese.

I finished mine first and even managed to get my fried down. Thomas finished every bite of his sandwich and perhaps nibbled on the fries. Yet the other guys kept praising him for his manliness in eating such a burger. He was the man, the king, the champion. They couldn't believe it. And there I sat, plate empty and tummy bursting, like a piece of forgotten chopped liver. Where was my crown? Where was my praise? Is a woman not allowed to win in eating competitions? Did my sandwich not count? The other three guys didn't finish their food...

Then when we were walking through the parking lot to put their leftovers in the car, this older man brushed passed me and asked the guys if any of them had $1.75 to spare for bus fare. They all kept walking and told him no and the man scuttled off without giving me a chance to say anything. It just so happened that I had change in my purse and if he had been patient enough I would have offered it to him gladly. Perhaps the guys had no compassion for the man, but I sure did. Apparently, he didn't want my coin though. When the guys walked back to the storefronts I lingered behind to try and give the man his bus fare but he was nowhere to be found.

I hope he had to walk all the way to his destination!

Today I just felt so ignored and belittled on behalf of my being a woman. Hmmph and hmmph!

scullerymaid at 4:12 p.m.

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