We have had a cold snap here in Sydney over the last couple
of days, and since I didn’t have any leftovers from last night’s dinner to eat
for lunch, I decided to go up the street to Saigon Queen for some pho on my
lunch break. After I ordered I sat down to read my book (The Awakening by Kate Chopin - very steamy for the late 19th
century!) while waiting for my food to come out.
There was a middle-aged lady drinking a diet coke a couple
of tables over, and after a minute or so I became vaguely aware of her mumbling
something to herself. It started to sound more like a hissing noise, and became
loud enough that I realized what she was saying: “Sssssslut! Sssssssslut!” After a few more seconds I couldn’t ignore it
any longer, and I looked up to see her
leaning towards me, maintaining direct eye contact, all while hissing the word
slut. I didn’t know what to do - as a rule I tend not to escalate situations
involving people with questionable sanity. I made the split second decision to
bury my eyeballs right back into the book and ignore her. After a minute of
this she went up to the counter to pay before leaving, and I was left to eat my
soup in confusion.
For reference, my outfit consisted of a knee-length grey
skirt, a button-up shirt with a Peter Pan collar, and a cardigan. People are
strange.
