Overheard: Cafeteria edition

I work adjacent to, and sometimes in, the HQ of what I’ll call a “fashion empire.” As is such, most of the employees in and around said few blocks worth of offices are what I’ll call the “beautiful people” of SF. Fashion forward, indeed.

Said HQ has a cafeteria for said beautiful people, as well as us - the ‘wacky’ nonprofit neighbors. Below is a conversation overheard between the Elderly Asian Security Guard (EASG), who checks ID badges for entry into the cafeteria, and a Youngish Caucasian female employee (YCF).

EASG (in a very Mr. Miyagi voice. Don’t hate – I’m not discriminating - he really does sound like Pat Morita as Mr. Miyagi): Hey – you get married? You gaining weight. Why. [He stares at her belted waist]

YCF: [Stopping to turn around] What? No. Not married. Yet.

EASG: Oh. Well, why you gain weight? [Perhaps he thinks she’s pregnant…?]

YCF: Uh…........because I eat too much? I guess?

EASG: Don’t eat too much. Ok. Yeah.

- - - and……..scene- - -

YCF was not svelte, but she appeared to be proportional to her height if on the…Rubinesque…side of things. I imagine it’s hard enough to work in an industry where most of the female (and some of the male!) employees waltz around in skinny jeans, backless tunics, and pointy shoes all-the-damn-day-long without having extra attention called to one’s not-built-for-skinny-jeans body (again – no hate here – I’m more Botticellian, myself). I mean, you should SEE the clientele at our neighborhood coffee shops. But GEEZ - that conversation was just not right. I felt embarrassed for YCF, but didn’t now what to say – so I kept right on walking.

And people wonder that today’s “enlightened 21st century grrrrl-power” women still have body-image problems . . .