Sounds like a dumb question. No? Yet I have good reason to ask. Lately, I’ve noticed some very loud and possibly violent people spending time there.
One morning, there were two obnoxious types in my usual Starbucks hangout. The first arrived as I finished reading my newspaper. He hooked up his computer and went online. Very soon, he was on his cell phone yelling at his stockbroker. Something I’m sure happens frequently these days.
I wasn’t eavesdropping, but this individual was yelling so loudly, the entire patronage of the store could hear his business. He was upset that he still had 150,000 shares of AIG. A quick calculation for that day indicates that’s more than $400,000.00 worth of a stock that’s going down the tube.
“You told me to buy them,” he argued. The stockbroker must have told him it would take a few days to sell that much stock, because he yelled again. “Then let it take a few days; just get rid of it. I’ll take a small loss.” After about fifteen minutes, he calmed down.
Then a friend of his walked in. They exchanged pleasantries.
Soon they were both speaking loudly into their cell phones. Customers were cringing at the tonal quality of their conversations. As if that was not annoying enough, another angry man walked in, sat down across from loudmouth number two, and the pair began their shouting match.
It seems that loudmouth number two owed the new loudmouth number three nearly $1000.00 for more than a year. It became so heated a conversation they nearly came to blows. Maybe they did after I left.
Isn’t it sad that one can no longer sit in a coffee shop to read in peace and quiet?
