Look Who's Coming to Dinner...

So the Hubster and I were enjoying a lovely late supper at one of my favorite restaurants when all that loveliness was completely interrupted by some "home folk."

It was Saturday night and it was already after 7 o'clock when we decided that we would venture out for supper. I got ready, the Hubster got ready... at this point it was after 8 o'clock and we both were slowly starving.

We decided to go to one of my favorite restaurants in the entire world. It's a hip little oyster bar and seafood restaurant in the only city in our county. Trust me when I say that their blackened Mahi-mahi is the best that ever was, and ever will be.

So we arrive at the restaurant and we decided, since it was close to 9 o'clock, that there was no need to get a big ole' table for two, that we'd eat at the oyster bar instead. It wasn't crowded at all-- just a couple of couples still peppered the bar.

A little more than about half-way into my Mahi, two couples belly up to our end of the oyster bar. It was the "home folks."

You remember a few posts back I wrote about a wedding I attended and there was this girl with the giant hair? Well, Giant Hair (GH) and her husband and another couple happened to be the "home folks" that ruined my meal.

Now, I've been known to pull an 'Aunt Mildred' from time to time. For those of you not familiar with my Aunt Mildred, she was a tiny, haughty lady that didn't put up with much. She completely and utterly personified the term "passive aggressive" and she certainly had a way of making you feel bad about yourself if you didn't live up to her standards. As soon as they walk in and sit down beside the Hubster and me, I began to feel the cold hand of Aunt Mildred reaching up from somewhere hot below…

I survey the damage. Good, I think to myself, her hair isn't big tonight. Must not be a special occasion...

I was a little taken aback when Giant Hair openly insulted her husband. I felt sorry for him. However, he doesn't seem to mind. He also didn’t seem to mind when she out and out refused to sit next to him and chose a seat four spaces down.

GH's husband comes from a good family. There is a little money there and it appears that GH's husband is well on his way to operating a very successful business. He is well mannered and, most importantly, well behaved. Unfortunately I can't say the same for his trampy wife.

As the two couples sit down we make polite talk. GH doesn't talk to me or even look me in the eye, which is rude considering that we went to high school together and all.

I’m not really familiar with GH’s upbringing or background. We had friends in common, but we were never friends. I remember in 9th grade she was engaged, which I thought was right out of Deliverance—who in their right mind would let a 14 year old get engaged?

However, it has been implied to me, on more than one occasion that she didn’t come from much. And after seeing her in action, apparently her family didn’t train her on how to act in polite company either. Unfortunately, GH must have missed the passage in Emily Post about not making racist comments in public places, less one wants to start something.

It turns out GH is a pretty major racist. Apparently she works as a cashier of some sort in a county government office (not in the county I live in, thankfully) and this year her boss is running against a black man for the elected position of sheriff. During dinner one of the people they were with mentioned that he was going to vote for the black man and she started dropping the "N" word all over the place.

In a public place, mind you!

In a public restaurant with many different colors of people!

And here she was making racist comments (I'll spare you the details) for all to hear!

I have never been so ashamed and uncomfortable in all my life. I realize that there is still hate in America and I realize that I can’t change someone’s beliefs. Unfortunately, we live in an area where narrow minds seem to be more common than the stomach flu and people like GH run rampant with their ignorant talk and ignorant beliefs, however, not in all my years have I ever experienced such an outright and public display of rascism.

But I will not, nor will I ever, tolerate and condone that sort of behavior. Luckily, by this juncture in our meal we were through and had paid our bill, so I demanded that we leave. And with one grand sweeping motion we were out of there.

If I were braver and if I were stronger, I would have told her to shut her stupid mouth—but I hate confrontation and I’m horribly passive aggressive, so I’m getting my frustration out on blogger. If she was smarter and if she was more compassionate she would have thought about what she was saying and how unjust and unfair she was being. But she isn’t smart and obviously not compassionate in the least.

A few years ago her boss made some tasteless remarks about Hispanics and the press went wild. If I were mean person, I could make a few phone calls and let the right know about this little incident-- the types of people that are in that county government office. I wonder what her chances would be of having a job come next election…. But lucky for her, I’m not that sort of person.