Friday, April 01, 2005
Living among the Rich, or, Bad Gillian goes to Starbucks
Living here in Del Mar is teaching me something about myself which I was already beginning to realize when I was amongst the rich M.Ds and computer geeks in MN: I am very uncomfortable around, and angered by, conspicuous consumption. Particularly conspicuous consumers who are *clueless* about how ridiculous their consumption appears to those of more moderate means. And who raise their children to be equally clueless
Tonight after dinner I was sitting in my local Starbucks sipping a cappuccino and doing my reading for tomorrow's SJSU classes. In giggled 3 girls who were, I would guess, somewhere between 10 and 13 years old, max., having just left the nearby movie theatre. Closer to 10 than 13. One of them was decked out in a hot pink stretch tube top, a hot pink miniskirt, and pink slide shoes w/ 2" heels. She obviously wanted everyone to notice her shoes by the way she walked in the *noisiest* way possible up to the counter to order, back to their table to wait, and up and back again to pick up her (you guessed it!) *pink* Berries & Creme Frappuccino. Her outfit was something a 20something girl should be wearing. A 20something headed to a nightclub or frat party. Her two tablemates, dressed slightly less provocatively but still in a way in which no 11 y.o. should be, got medium (venti) hot chocolates. I know exactly what they ordered b/c they were very loud. And that was *before* the sugar and caffeine hit their bloodstreams!
After I'd tuned out their giggling so I could plow through a few more pages about DDC, LCC, OCLC, MARC, MARC21, AACR2 and Z.39, my bibliographic meditation was suddenly interrupted. Pink Flamingo Girl began shrieking (in the falsetto tones that only a preteen female can reach), " ***OHMIGOD*** You Just Spilled Hot Chocolate All Over My HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLAR COACH SHOES!!!!!!!!!!!! AND My Brand New [Name of Skirt Brand I Didn't Recognize]" (Repeat, with minor variations, at equal decibels, several times, alternating with the following) "My Mother is going to KILL ME." "I am going to Hurt You." "My COACH SHOES!!!!"
There was then a 5-minute drama of Pink Flamingo Girl prancing around barefoot while trying to mop up the chocolate w/ napkins. (A dance I know well, having performed it just a few days ago at my own workstation, when I managed to spill a mug of steaming cafe au lait all over my feet and dictaphone and desk and ...... However, the outfit I had on at the time, one of my more expensive ones, cost maybe $100 total, including my $40 black shoes! :-) The sacred pink leather Coach shoes were placed on top the table (quel hygenic, no?) while she mopped up her legs and skirt and such.
Then in came one of the mothers of these girls--I think of the one who'd spilled the hot chocolate, ostensibly by accident. Then ensued a scene in which the two other girls tried to convince the mother (whom they called by her first name) (or maybe she was a nanny, not uncommon here), to let them walk around the shopping center for 10 minutes looking for a guy named Turtle, b/c girl 2 had to tell him something. Mother/Nanny wisely refused, and then the pouting really reached incredibly operatic heights. They were acting like preschoolers. "It's an EMERGENCY. I HAVE to talk to him." I really admired Mother/Nanny for saying, "No, it's not" and "Too bad." More killer pouty looks and whines. Meanwhile Pink Flamingo Girl is telling girl 2 "YOU ARE *GOING* to buy me NEW shoes. I WEAR a size 4-1/2."
Their behavior, except for the disrespect shown to the Mother/Nanny figure, was not particularly exceptional for preteen girls, who can be incredibly shallow, vicious, etc. However, what on earth is a 12-yo girl doing wearing $150 hot pink leather Coach slides w/ 2" heels to go to the movies and Starbucks?!? And I'm sure the rest of her outfit cost another $150. And it all made her look like a streetwalker!
WHAT PLANET DO THEIR PARENTS LIVE ON?!?!?!?
Tonight after dinner I was sitting in my local Starbucks sipping a cappuccino and doing my reading for tomorrow's SJSU classes. In giggled 3 girls who were, I would guess, somewhere between 10 and 13 years old, max., having just left the nearby movie theatre. Closer to 10 than 13. One of them was decked out in a hot pink stretch tube top, a hot pink miniskirt, and pink slide shoes w/ 2" heels. She obviously wanted everyone to notice her shoes by the way she walked in the *noisiest* way possible up to the counter to order, back to their table to wait, and up and back again to pick up her (you guessed it!) *pink* Berries & Creme Frappuccino. Her outfit was something a 20something girl should be wearing. A 20something headed to a nightclub or frat party. Her two tablemates, dressed slightly less provocatively but still in a way in which no 11 y.o. should be, got medium (venti) hot chocolates. I know exactly what they ordered b/c they were very loud. And that was *before* the sugar and caffeine hit their bloodstreams!
After I'd tuned out their giggling so I could plow through a few more pages about DDC, LCC, OCLC, MARC, MARC21, AACR2 and Z.39, my bibliographic meditation was suddenly interrupted. Pink Flamingo Girl began shrieking (in the falsetto tones that only a preteen female can reach), " ***OHMIGOD*** You Just Spilled Hot Chocolate All Over My HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLAR COACH SHOES!!!!!!!!!!!! AND My Brand New [Name of Skirt Brand I Didn't Recognize]" (Repeat, with minor variations, at equal decibels, several times, alternating with the following) "My Mother is going to KILL ME." "I am going to Hurt You." "My COACH SHOES!!!!"
There was then a 5-minute drama of Pink Flamingo Girl prancing around barefoot while trying to mop up the chocolate w/ napkins. (A dance I know well, having performed it just a few days ago at my own workstation, when I managed to spill a mug of steaming cafe au lait all over my feet and dictaphone and desk and ...... However, the outfit I had on at the time, one of my more expensive ones, cost maybe $100 total, including my $40 black shoes! :-) The sacred pink leather Coach shoes were placed on top the table (quel hygenic, no?) while she mopped up her legs and skirt and such.
Then in came one of the mothers of these girls--I think of the one who'd spilled the hot chocolate, ostensibly by accident. Then ensued a scene in which the two other girls tried to convince the mother (whom they called by her first name) (or maybe she was a nanny, not uncommon here), to let them walk around the shopping center for 10 minutes looking for a guy named Turtle, b/c girl 2 had to tell him something. Mother/Nanny wisely refused, and then the pouting really reached incredibly operatic heights. They were acting like preschoolers. "It's an EMERGENCY. I HAVE to talk to him." I really admired Mother/Nanny for saying, "No, it's not" and "Too bad." More killer pouty looks and whines. Meanwhile Pink Flamingo Girl is telling girl 2 "YOU ARE *GOING* to buy me NEW shoes. I WEAR a size 4-1/2."
Their behavior, except for the disrespect shown to the Mother/Nanny figure, was not particularly exceptional for preteen girls, who can be incredibly shallow, vicious, etc. However, what on earth is a 12-yo girl doing wearing $150 hot pink leather Coach slides w/ 2" heels to go to the movies and Starbucks?!? And I'm sure the rest of her outfit cost another $150. And it all made her look like a streetwalker!
WHAT PLANET DO THEIR PARENTS LIVE ON?!?!?!?
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