The Lunch Lady, and the Power of Newborns

I'm cool with the lunch lady here at work.  Back in the day, we used to go for smoke breaks together, and every once in a while, we'll chat over coffee for five minutes before getting back to work. 

About two weeks ago, she was telling me about how her son and his girlfriend were going to have a baby.  She was distressed because the son had barely spoken to her in months, and they were on the outs.  Every family has their reasons, and every side has its story, but the reason she gave was because the son and his girl were worthless sacks of flesh that were more interested in getting high than trying to find legitimate jobs and starting a legitimate life.  They had gotten pregnant a couple times before (on purpose), but they had gotten abortions due to the influence of each their respective parents (judge not - as this is definitely not the purpose of the post).

And because of the drama surrounding her son and the impending baby situation, you could tell that she was both deeply depressed, and emotionally exhausted from fighting with her son for what she thought was right - a good stable career and a steady income.  Whether she was right isn't the issue.  And as time went on, you could see the depression deepen, and the exhaustion worsen.

Until, through all the drama and exhaustion, she came to work today screaming and jumping like an idiot, waving a picture of her grandson as if there was some hysterical drunken parade, and she was the flag-bearer.  She came up to every single person in the lunch room, whether she knew them or not, and told them about her grandson, and how she was so proud - the ridiculous grin on her face seemed to belie anything personal that was going on in her life.

This is the magic of newborns - so weak and helpless, but still - so powerful.