Thursday 13 January 2011

Comment Of The Day

Mr F and I frequently get home from work and share a 'comment of the day' story.

Today, this was mine.....

Two regular customers came into the cafe this morning. I guess they are in their mid to late sixties. Both ladies are quite well to do and we sometimes have a bit of banter. One of the ladies has a gluten intolerance, and as some of you know we do try to have a good selection of cakes, including at least one gluten free choice. The ladies in question do tend to sit in the cafe for at least two hours nursing one cup of coffee each, and today I made a point of popping over to say hello and see if we could offer them some more coffee and a slice of cake.

I mentioned to the first lady, let's call her Patricia (because that's her name!) that we had made a fabulous dark chocolate gluten free torte which I thought she would enjoy. Whilst I was describing it to her, I was aware that her friend (Bev) was looking me up and down. I turned to her and she said, very kindly,
"Ooh, you do look well you know. You really do look lovely and slim, how on earth did you manage it?" I was about to reply and her Patricia smirked and said (wait for it)

"Yes, but to be honest you were VERY chunky, weren't you?"

Several months ago I would have cried with mortification. Today I laughed and resisted the urge to reply with

"You won't be wanting any torte then?" Instead I pretended to be busy and dashed off for an emergency coffee to try and restore sanity levels.

The lovely girls who work in the cafe were outraged and ready to throw bread rolls at her, but actually, a lot of older people I know are not afraid of being honest. Think of someone you know, anyone, and then think of them losing a few stone. You would notice, wouldn't you? So in a roundabout, rubbish way with words, kind of way, there was a twisted about compliment in there somewhere! and today, fortunately, I could see it!

Does anyone else play the 'Comment of the day' game? if not, give it a go, I almost guarantee it will raise a laugh.

8 comments:

{Love, Love, Love} said...

Poor you! At least you took it the right way. Without trying to stereotype to much, I find that older people tend to be more honest and also Northerners tend to be more honest than Southerners which is strange considering how small a country we are that we can have such variations x

Beakery said...

Very funny, my comment of the day was 'I love orange jam.....you know golden shred'

driftwood said...

oh dear, I do notice that sometimes older people forget to filter what they say... I love the comment of the day idea, the highlight of my day was a comment in the message book in the office where I was volunteering today "can anyone else smell fish?"

dragonfly said...

Hmmm, old people and their honesty! The other day I was told (quite straight-faced) that I probably had trouble buying boots because I had "fat legs, too". Blimmin' cheek! I've got loads of boots. Loads!

I'm giggling at Driftwood's comment too!

The Girl said...

Haha! Brilliant. Older people (especially ladies) are great for that. Some of the stuff my Mum has come out with since I lost weight has been hilarious. For example, I'd lost a couple of stone and was feeling good about it and Mum said "It's brilliant, you're looking really great. I mean I really did think you'd put on too much weight but you know, mother's don't say anything about these things."
Yeah thanks Mum.

Lisa said...

How cheeky!
Lisa x

Jill said...

I really think it depends on how you are feeling somedays as to whether you can take these backward compliments. Its like being asked when you are due!!! knowing that you not pregnant and just a little plump! I am sure you look lovely!
Jillx

Curlew Country said...

Oh my word!! You're a lot more restraned than I'd have been. That chocolate torte would have got squashed into her ungrateful handbag. Good job we didn;t buy that cafe in the end then!!

I suppose it's what's traditionally known as a "backhanded compliment".

My comment of the day comes from a conversation my dad had with B.

Grandad - "Are dinosaurs hot or cold blooded then?"

B "I don't know! You know I'm not the foremost authority on dinosaurs in the world Grandad - maybe the second or third though."

love Stephx