Jersey Spectacle at JAX

I have Cap10K pics and stuff I want to post, but right now, as I sit at gate C10 at JAX awaiting my return flight to Austin, all I can think about is the spectacle I just witnessed at the airport bar in the C terminal. And I just have to post about it.

When I walked into the place, I noticed all the tables were taken so I bellied up to the bar. Since it took me a good 15 minutes for someone to take my order I had plenty of time to notice a young girl at at table with her handheld gameboy, sitting by herself with a bunch of luggage. By the time I finally got my food, her young mother had arrived and had apparently left the daughter sitting there by herself for a good length of time. She had gone back through security to have a smoke and had to wait through the line again to make it to the restaurant to reunite with her daughter.

She ordered at least 2 shots while I was there - I believe one whiskey and one tequila - and this was in addition to whatever she had ordered before her smoke break. Her bar tab was $98, and she insisted on leaving a $200 tip. As she was leaving her money at the bar (a combination of credit card & cash, which in itself is a spectacle), the bartender was trying to make sure the woman intended on leaving so much. The more the bartender objected, the more the woman insisted in her Jersey accent that it was her boyfriend's money. She started toppling a bit on her heels (too many shots, I suppose).

Anyway, everyone was simply staring at her. It was awkward, and it was sad. And it was a huge spectacle. All I kept thinking of was this daughter of hers.