To go, please

I've been trying to save money lately. One way I've been trying to do that is to not buy lunch and dinner out so much. So yesterday I went to the grocery store to pick up the bare minimum. I packed a lunch this morning so that I wouldn't have to eat out while on campus all day.

I forgot it on the counter.

That was my first mistake.

Then I made the mistake of going to a bagel sandwich shop across the street and sitting next to two girls who did nothing but bitch, whine, and cackle the whole time. I've found that when dining alone, you're virtually forced to listen to the conversations in your vicinity, even when trying to drown them out with a book or an iPod.

Highlights included one friend telling the other that she couldn't stop by the restaurant they both worked at to try to pick up an extra shift because she would take money away from her. She told her friend, "I need the money. Don't come in. You'll take money away from my tips." "But I need the money too....I need to buy Christmas presents," the girl said meekly.

Her friend responded animatedly, "Christmas presents?! Who do you have to buy for?" "Well I have to buy for..." She proceeded to count on her fingers how many people she had to buy for. It was one of those conversations where I could quickly tell that the hand counter was the kind of friend and person who always competes with her company to show that she is worse off.

Their conversation then deteriorated into the hand counter telling her friend how "fat" her 11-yr old cousin was. They snickered about her weight as they incredulously stated that they both wore size 4s.

Let's just say that my lunch was ruined as I became increasingly annoyed by the conversation that I couldn't help but listen to, and my insecurity emerged when they began to talk about weight and sizes. It wasn't the kind of thing I wanted to hear on a bloated day, even if they weren't talking about me.

I wondered if my conversations ever annoy the person at the next table who is eating alone.

Next time I'll take my sandwich to go and eat at my desk!