Plight of Misery

I took a little camping trip up the Bruce Peninsula this weekend. The whole weekend was warm and sunny. Even though we were camping, we took most of our meals in a restaurant because D forgot to pack the stove and lantern. I mean, not only could we not cook, but we also had to not cook in the dark. But that's an other story.

During one of our meals at an outdoor restaurant, this is what I witnessed:

A man and his family came in. Before he even sat down, he started adjusting the umbrella attached to the table in an effort to get some shade over the seats. I wondered why he didn't just go to one of the other tables that already had the umbrella bent and positioned to give shade. The umbrella didn't seem cooperative, so he asked the waitress to fix the umbrella. The waitress said the umbrella is probablly broken because there was tape around the adjustment mechanism, so she didn't touch the umbrella. She suggested he moved to a different table. The man's teenaged son however, was completely embarrassed by his father's struggle with the umbrella and refused to change tables. After some words with the father, he said, "If we move, let's move to that table that is in the shade. It doesn't have an umbrella." But the man said, "No, I want to sit here."

Not happy with the waitress' answer or his son's refusal to move to a table with an umbrella, the man flagged down a waiter, who happily adjusted the umbrella for him. The waiter said, "Just be careful, the wind may blow the umbrella about."

Sure enough, each time the wind came up, the umbrella spun on its adjustment pivot, knocking passersby in the head and allowing the full force of the sun to hit the man's table. He spent most of the time holding the umbrella steady with one hand. He looked most unhappy. His poor wife and son looked frustrated with the man.

So I was thinking...Why is this family out when they are so full of misery? Why didn't the man just go to a table in the shade? I don't know. I think this man came into the restaurant looking for reasons to be unhappy. What's with people like that?