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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Tones and Talk

I was past due on having my nails done. Filled. That's what it's called as they are acrylic nails and as they grow, the bright red polish moves forward leaving half moons of the real nail exposed. I was a quarter of an inch of real nail past due so I took myself off to the nail salon.
 
For years and years my one treat to myself were these acrylic nails that made my hands look long and elegant. I have long fingers but the nails are stubby; they split and break off and some of the work I do does not lend itself to having nice hands.
 
I've been without acrylics for over 5 years now and one day I decided it was time to have nice looking hands once again. The downside of this is I have to commit to having them filled once a month and today was that day.
 
The nail tech motioned me to a chair as soon as I walked in the door. Seated beside me was a young lady who might have been in her early 20's. She had her hand wrapped around her pink encased phone so as to be able to catch the incoming calls quickly. I noted a flicker and she moved the phone to her ear. A short conversation, the tone impatient, the voice she used was one that spoke of her disdain for the caller. Ending the call by abruptly hitting the "End Call" on the touch screen, she neglected to be courteous with a "goodbye" to her caller. Just as she terminated her call, I noted the caller on her screen.
 
"Your mom?" I said. She nodded. My next question was a "Do you have any children?" and another negative answer was given. I nodded, smiled and turned away.
 
The observation I was making was this. Why do one's children use this tone on their parent; the one person in this world that champions them. This young lady didn't exhibit any anger in her short quick conversation with her mother. Impatience. She wasn't busy and being interrupted by her mother. She was sitting having her nails filed. 
 I know I was guilty of this at times too with my mother and for that I'm sorry. I can't apologize to her. She is gone and I live with my regrets.
  Is this disrespect common among the young with their parents? I mentally scanned the couples I know who have children to try and list those that weren't treated similarly.
 
My neighbor has three children and if they talk to her in "that tone" I've never heard it.
 
I am now paying particular attention to offspring's conversational tones with their parents. I want to survey this behavior. Hopefully I'll find it's an anomaly and not a consistent behavior. I'll note the person and him/her's responses and if they have children, do they allow this behavior.
 
After uttering those two questions to  that young lady, I wondered later if she put them together and attached them to her conversation with her mother that I had just listened to. I doubt it. I  do believe Karma will visit one day in her future and she will be on the receiving end of a conversation very much like they one she engaged in today. "Monkey see, Monkey do".
 
 
 
 
 

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