White Trash Coffee Klatsche

A few definitions to start this rant off:


white trash
n. Offensive Slang
1. Used as a disparaging term for a poor white person or poor white people.
2. Used as a disparaging term for a white person or white people perceived as being lazy and ignorant.
coffee klatch or coffee klatsch also kaf·fee·klatsch n.
A casual social gathering for coffee and conversation.

h'ok...I am probably a step removed from white trash. As a child, I lived in North (east) philadelphia (K & A baby!!!). I am probably a first generation non-wt, perhaps a 1.5 gen non-wt b/c my parents got us out of the area and did what they could to make us more or less middle class....thing is I graduated college, left the kenzo world behind me so to speak.

Fast forward to the year 2008. I work in "the city" in a decent, rather artsy-fartsy section. I take the train in from my more-or-less suburban home. I walk up the pissy steps (god, wtf do people do on these steps? I see the maintenance guy mopping them every.single.day) and out onto the streets of the city. Of course in order to make my way to Star$ for my daily dose of hyper-caffeination, I have to either dodge or walk through the women that my office calls the "White Trash Coffee Klatsche" seriously. SERIOUSLY.

On any given day (actually every day pretty much) between the hours of 9am and maybe 1:00 pm, you can find these women, usually at least 3 of them, all with young (read: infant) children and/or a bun in the oven. They hang out on the corner near the train stop. They drink their coffee and let their kids run around and smoke their cigarettes with the muffin top hanging out of the walmart jeans, or perhaps the maternity pants rolling down the belly so that you can really SEE that the woman is pregnant, not just sloppy and fat. Think Joy from My Name is Earl but with 50 extra lbs and 3 inches of black roots hanging out.

I realize that this sounds really mean. I guess it is; however, it's true. I need to take a picture one day coming up from the train. It's almost amazing how ridiculous they are. All smoking, one holding her baby in a baby-bjorn type carrier, smoking smoking away.

JESUS, don't they realize that this is not good for them, or their children? The funniest thing is that the corner they seem to gather on is directly across from a planned parenthood, and in front of an HIV support center. Irony much?

UPdate: Today, a pregnant woman with her hair scraped and gelled back into a ponytail in a cute little maternity summery top was walking down the street and i almost got her picture. She was struggling with her purse and a lighter to light her ciggie. Her friend, muffin top, was walking down the street behind her and they were having a yellversation (not conversation, YELLversation) about a block apart from each other.

wheeeee. it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood