Fin de 21

A woman here just asked if her kids could use the coffee shop's dayglo chalk markers to draw on the shop's sandwich sign. She saw that the sign had been brought in from the sidewalk so it seemed like a good time for her to make a weird demand.

Whenever she encountered a little resistance to the idea from the barista, she stood at the counter with her mouth agape, looking around the room and not moving from her spot. Eventually, when it became just the right amount of uncomfortable, the woman behind the counter handed over the chalk markers, and the kids set to writing their names and tracing their sticky hands. By the way, both kids were wearing roller skates when they got here, meaning one kid is aimlessly rolling around on a hardwood floor while the other is now barefoot. Both are coughing like child coal miners in the 1920s.

The week after Christmas is like this. Parents who aren't sure what to do with their kids often wander around making weird requests from shopkeepers and public servants. Another incident from this week that I witnessed was a woman who wanted to take her small daughter behind the scenes at a bakery/cafe to "show her around". At the time the place was as busy as I've ever seen it. The woman behind the counter told her that she was too busy to indulge her. 

The mom persisted, saying, "It'll only take a few minutes!" She looked at the people in line as if we'd all be fine waiting around while her bored kid was toured around like the young Queen of England.