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My wife and I went out to our local Fuddrucker's for dinner last night. It was moderately busy, but there were still plenty of empty tables scattered here and there. We chose a table near one of the corner booths, and went about enjoying our dinner in peace.
There was a family of three sitting in the corner booth, and the only reason I noticed them at all was that their son was clowning around with a nearby motorcycle arcade game while they waited for their food. My wife and I found his antics amusing, so we were laughing to ourselves as we talked and waited for our own food.
When our food was ready, they faded to the background while we ate. In the meantime, an older couple had come in and sat at a nearby table to also fade into the background.
The family of three again caught my attention briefly when the kid returned to play at the motorcycle game. His parents were fussing at him to finish his dinner first. That's when I noticed for some reason that the old man at the other table was staring very intently at them. The woman had disappeared somewhere out of sight, presumably to the restroom or to the counter. It was one of those moments at which I just noticed it, but really didn't care. A couple more minutes passed, and the family of three decided to leave. They barely got a couple of steps away from the table when the old man proceeded to move their dirty dishes to a nearby empty table. The old lady returned with two beers in hand, and proceeded to help the old man finish clearing the family's dirty dishes from the corner booth. They then staked their claim to that corner booth.
My wife read that look of puzzlement on my face, and looked at me questioningly. I leaned over to her, in a hushed tone, "That was odd...." I told her what I witnessed, and how it just struck me strangely that the old couple was so quick to take over the corner booth before the family got more than a few steps away. I guess it only registered because I would have much preferred to claim a clean table since there were plenty of empty tables available. It also seemed somewhat rude, in my opinion, since that was likely why the old man was practically staring them down from the table he first claimed before they left. Like I said, it was of no consequence to me, it was just something strange I noticed as a casual observer of human behavior in public.
There was a family of three sitting in the corner booth, and the only reason I noticed them at all was that their son was clowning around with a nearby motorcycle arcade game while they waited for their food. My wife and I found his antics amusing, so we were laughing to ourselves as we talked and waited for our own food.
When our food was ready, they faded to the background while we ate. In the meantime, an older couple had come in and sat at a nearby table to also fade into the background.
The family of three again caught my attention briefly when the kid returned to play at the motorcycle game. His parents were fussing at him to finish his dinner first. That's when I noticed for some reason that the old man at the other table was staring very intently at them. The woman had disappeared somewhere out of sight, presumably to the restroom or to the counter. It was one of those moments at which I just noticed it, but really didn't care. A couple more minutes passed, and the family of three decided to leave. They barely got a couple of steps away from the table when the old man proceeded to move their dirty dishes to a nearby empty table. The old lady returned with two beers in hand, and proceeded to help the old man finish clearing the family's dirty dishes from the corner booth. They then staked their claim to that corner booth.
My wife read that look of puzzlement on my face, and looked at me questioningly. I leaned over to her, in a hushed tone, "That was odd...." I told her what I witnessed, and how it just struck me strangely that the old couple was so quick to take over the corner booth before the family got more than a few steps away. I guess it only registered because I would have much preferred to claim a clean table since there were plenty of empty tables available. It also seemed somewhat rude, in my opinion, since that was likely why the old man was practically staring them down from the table he first claimed before they left. Like I said, it was of no consequence to me, it was just something strange I noticed as a casual observer of human behavior in public.
also 
and a nice dose of eeeewwww. Not much I can say though, he's my dad. 
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