Random Thoughts by Pauline
March 20 2014, Thursday
Bar
Table Conversation
Last Sunday morning, I went for
hair colour treatment, something I hate but have to undergo every two months.
My hair greys quickly and as I am still working, I do want to look not my age!
I made a mistake with the opening
hour of the saloon and arrived too early. I was not mad but happy that there
was time to treat myself to a full set of breakfast at the McDonald’s which I
seldom visit. But the whole restaurant was surprisingly crowded with queues at
the counter and all tables occupied. So instead of having a full set, I opted
for an egg and sausage muffin and a coffee. I managed to get the last high
stool at the bar table. Sitting uncomfortably, I gobbled my food and washed it
down with the lukewarm coffee.
Though clumsily engaged, I couldn’t
help noticing what a mother and daughter were doing right in front of me. The
girl looked like six or seven years old and she was dressed in a pink tutu
ready for ballet class while the mother looked in her thirties. She was writing
hurriedly on the flattened cover of the breakfast set while the girl was
narrating a school trip.
“Now that I am writing for you,
when we are home after class, you only need to copy this into your exercise
book! See, you can have composition to submit tomorrow!”
To this mother, the whole point
of doing the writing task is for submission! Doesn’t she know that the process
of transferring ideas into writing is a learning experience her daughter has to
accumulate? I pray that this mother is only ghostwriting for her daughter once
in a blue moon!
