Ladies That Lunch

I finally had the day off today from work and was anxious to see what the rest of the world does when not in an office building all day.  Not sure if it's just a New York City thing, but I am always amazed at the large amount of people, from all ages and walks of life, who seems to have absolutely nothing to do but walk around, shop and eat at restaurants.  Who are these people and how did they come into this life of leisure?

I'm not talking about students, the ill, homeless or retirees.  I'm talking about women and men in their 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s, dressed down as if they're going for coffee with a friend, to the movies, a leisurely walk in Central Park,  just strolling around with not a care in the world.  True, these people could also be on their day off or taking a lunch break, but there were so many of them - and most of them looked like what they were doing was not a novelty - it was their life style.  This is unlike me who walks around with perma-smile any time I have a day off from work.  I usually pack in so many things that I end up over scheduling myself until a day off seems just as action packed as being at work.

This afternoon, I was happy to get a visit from my SWF (Scottish Work Friend), who was also off from work today.  She brought her adorable 7 month old baby, Freya, in to the city.  It's a rare day when both of us get to be off at the same time, even rarer for me to snag some time with my favorite American born Scottish baby - so my SWF kindly made the trip into the city to hang with me and The Husband.  Who knew we'd end up getting a first hand view of the city leisure crowd by going to lunch?

After getting rebuffed by JG Mellon, the NY old school burger establishment, for having the nerve to go in there with a stroller, we opted for Go Burger. Unbeknownst to us, Go Burger is the week day mommy mecca of the Upper East Side.  We were immediately sat (strollers welcomed) next to a table of five, mid-20 something year old moms and their toddlers.  A few minutes later, another pair of moms came with their kids.  Before we knew it, we were surrounded by baby carriages, toddlers and conversations about nap times and music class.  The Husband, who thought he was just joining us to eat a burger, immediately consoled himself from this Mommy Madness by ordering the Duck Fat Fries (see photo of these tasty slices of heaven).  We also decided that it would be insane not to order a Twinkie milkshake as the SWF had never had a twinkie in her life (can you believe??).

Anyhow, I couldn't help wonder about these mommies, who were definitely past the point of being off work for maternity leaves.  Their kids were too old for that to be a possibility.  Perhaps they worked part time, or just happened to coincidentally be taking the same day off as all of their mommy friends and had planned this lunch weeks in advance.  But my SWF and I decided that this must be a mommy meet up group of some sort.  It was fascinating and scary to watch them all.  Toddlers screaming out for no reason, food flying and them all just continuing to chat with each other through every possible disruption as if they didn't even hear or notice anything out of the ordinary.  I wondered what these women did for a living, if they worked, what their husbands did and if not, how the financials worked amongst these ladies that lunch.  Does the husband hand them cash every day to go for these little lunch outings?  Do they share a bank account and credit card?  Or do the women earn enough on their own to pay for it all themselves?  I realize these are very nosey thoughts to have and definitely come from a place of complete jealousy that there is an entire sub culture of Ladies of Leisure That Lunch on weekdays - all without me in it.

Some day I will join this sub culture.  Whether as an independently or dependently wealthy lady of leisure - it wouldn't bother me either way. I want to wake up whenever I want with absolutely nothing to do but the following: work out for 2 hours, get coffee, meet up with friends for lunch, read a great book, take an even greater nap, have a personal chef who can cook wonderfully healthy and tasty dinner meals for me and The Husband, curl up with our pretend dog who doesn't poop or need to be walked in rain or snow storms and watch some great TV.  Is this possible during this lifetime?  Apparently in New York City there are hundreds of people walking outside our apartment every day who seem to have some sort of arrangement like this.  Except for the dog that doesn't poop part.  Anyhow - if anyone knows an easy and quick way to achieve this, I'm all ears.

Signing off now.  My Lady of Leisure status is limited these days, so it's best to go enjoy it while I can.  Enjoy your weekends!

-Stacey B