.jpg)
It takes two
It was one of those chain cafes with heavily-cushioned long couches fostering a lazy, cosy ambiance. But unfortunately just as I was into the mood of feeling relaxed, the quietness was completely shattered when a woman in her 50s walked in. As though to announce her grand entrance, she was bragging at the top of her voice to a younger female companion. They sank into the same sofa I was sitting on creating quite a depression on it. They quickly placed their orders. All the while, the woman did not, for one second, lower her voice.
The conversation or rather the public speech about her travels by that braggart was so loud that I was forced into hearing every single word. That was how I was able to make the conclusion that she was bragging! Her gestures were exaggerated with hands stretched out so far that I had to distance myself from her claws! Her speech was intermittently punctuated by quite a lot of “anyway”s and “you know”s in English as well as “you understand”s in Cantonese!
They two must be very good friends, otherwise how could an afternoon coffee break be so dominated by one with the other responding heartily. This responsive friend was actually doing very well her role as a “reflective listener”.
I had to cut short my coffee time!
