Five Minute Friday – Whisper

It’s time for Five Minute Friday writing again — this is from Kate Motaung’s blog, Heading Home, where each week she chooses a new word for five minutes of unedited writing.  

Allow me to complain this week, and to reminisce about something that happened this summer; in fact, I wrote about it on my other blog, Alzheimer’swife.   I took the two children to a concert at Mann Music Center in Philadelphia for a picnic-on-the-lawn-concert experience.  The lawn was crowded with music lovers (I thought) and we had a prime front and center spot on the hill.

During picnic time I became aware of a couple diagonally behind us because she was very talkative and loud, or maybe because I’m a foodie so when someone around me is talking about a recipe or food,  my ears perk up.  No, she was loud.  And then I started making those judgments we make when someone is speaking …. this was when she went on and on about how now that she has eaten good olive oil she can’t tolerate the others,  and then about the chocolate pairings she has with her wines (just can’t be any dark chocolate, has to be 72 percent,  you know what I mean),  and even her discussion about brie was pretentious.

But then I forgot about her because the concert started and I was  taken away by the music.  After intermission, however, things changed.  The orchestra was playing, and I started to hear rustling and rattling.  Papers,  jars,  whatever,  she was digging her hands into her four (four!) different picnic containers searching for something.  Then the unbelievable happened.

She took out a box of aluminum foil, pulled out a long sheet,  and tore it off.  Right in the middle of the music.  Seriously.  Not once,  not twice, but three times!  And after each piece, she wrapped it loudly around some food she had and shoved it into a picnic container. I had been very serious with the children when I reminded them that we don’t even whisper while the orchestra is playing.  We are respectful audience members.  And then this woman shows the least respect I can think of short of standing up and yelling.

Admittedly, I’m easily distracted and I’m very critical of audience behavior,   but …. well, I had to remind myself not to let this woman ruin my evening.