You’ve all experienced it before. Especially all you teenagers out there. You’re out in public, hanging with your close group of friends when in walks your mother and sister. This doesn’t mean they’re there to embarass you. Oh no, truth is it could have been an innocent coincidence. But what if is was no accident? Could they be there to spy on you? Who know, but you’re here and now so are they.
This creates an awkward situation. How do you react? Should you casually acknowledge them, a slight wave then straight back to your conversation. Wouldn’t it just be easier to ignore them? Pretend you didn’t notice their entrance and hope you’ve gone unnoticed too. It might not be too late to sneak a trip to the ladies room. You just might have to take a deep breath and go up to talk to them, maybe you can get your curfew bumped up an hour later and get them to leave. Either way, running into your family in public means an unwanted confrontation.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but your family is not going anywhere, they are here to stay. Plan incognito didn’t work, and the slight wave just brought them closer to you. The bathroom’s occupied. You’re stuck, there’s no escape and your family just seated themselves down at the table right next to you. Oh boy. Buckle up your seat belt this ride can get bumpy.
You’re that type of person who tries to make the best out of any situation. Life hands you lemons, you make a lemon meringue pie (lemonade’s too mainstream). You can manage to keep your chill even though your family is seated five feet away and your whole social life has the potential is collapse in front of your very eyes. You manage to find your happy place when the fates decide to test you; your sister walks up to your table. Stops. Looks down, then looks up. “Do you know who Shar is?” “…” “She’s really old.” “Cher? the singer?” “Oh yeah.. I don’t know” She walks away. No big, that wasn’t too embarrassing. Only your friends saw, no permanent damage.
Things started to calm down. The thick tension has deteriorated, it’s been awhile since your family has made any contact with you, and you’re finally able to return to the sanctity of your friends to discuss the latest boy drama. But just as the situation was looking up you hear it. It’s no big, right? Psh. You’ll just block it out and return to your conversation. It gets louder. Like an endless siren exploding in your eardrum, there is no forgetting this obstreperous chaos that has begun to shape form. Your mother’s laughter.
Now you’re not saying your mother has one of those I-will-never-forget-that-lady’s-cackle sort of chuckle. But, as we all come to the agonizing verdict, she’s a laugh-er. What’s a laugh-er, you may ask? Well much like Red Headband Girl, who (to no surprise) just walked in for her nightly visit, your mother laughs at everything and anything. There’s not really anything out of the ordinary to be found with your mother’s laugh but after 18 years of hearing it echo through your mind, you’ve learned to cringe at it’s very existence in public.
Your heart pounding, boom boom boom. You look around the room. You want reassurance, a big sigh of relief, but you won’t get any. It’s too late. People have noticed your mom and joined in with the laughter creating a chorus of giggles. It fills the room, taunting smirks of defeat. You collide your forehead with the table and hide behind your black and white iced mocha.
At a Coffee Shop 