Sausgage Gravy Biscuits

Was an odd day for me.

After picking up some stuff at Home Depot I decided to treat myself to breakfast at Martin's.  I waited in line behind a young man holding up the works trying to talk on the phone with one hand and an hold up his pants with the other.  Being an irritable sort, it was a struggle to hold my tongue, paid for my sausage gravy biscuit, small grits with extra butter and coke no ice.  When I sat down in the dining area there was an argument going on, the same young man was barking at an older man about being a racist and to mind his own business.  Apparently, the old man had made a derogatory statement about the young man's pants being a disgusting thing to look at, something his wife shouldn't be exposed to.  Soon three of the young man's friends were chipping in with their comments and woman with her child in the same seat started loudly cursing the old man.  The old man who was probably sixty-five or so stood his ground and repeated what he found offensive.  The whole scene really pissed me off.  In the escalation the manager came in and I stood up and made a gesture for them to cool it, which they did.  Soon after one of the young men said he wanted to see blood, I think he was full of crap though, a skinny little thing never budged an inch.  The woman never stopped barking until the old man was gone, no regard for the other people in the restaurant, no regard for what her toddler was learning.

I am left wondering, I know that the pants lower than the buttocks is fashion statement with its origin in penal system, inmates not being given belts.  Because the inmates had no belts, they had to hold up their pants and they could droop.  So there you have it, young men find it fashionable to look like criminals, not rational, but it is what it is.  Additionally, standards of decency are formed as a manner of protecting members from offensive language, and offensive dress.  These same standards serve to teach members to treat other with respect.

The old man and the young men broke standards of decency.  Both would have a fair argument that their actions were reactions.  The young men probably don't realize that they are copying the appearance of men who should not be copied.  They do realize however, and in seeming defiance, that their appearance does offend, they choose assign that offense taken as racism. From the old man, no doubt racism was contributor in making the willingness to return the offense flow more easily from angry thoughts.

My own opinion is conflicted, men should be allowed to dress as they wish, but it is not decent to intentionally offend.  Any young man willing to hang his pants lower than his buttocks, is either too stupid to understand his fashion mimicry, or has selected for himself, a station in life that will not likely produce, anything.  Like tattoos on the face, neck and hands, pants around the butt will keep you from getting a good job.

For me, breakfast wasn't the treat I'd hoped.