“Look at him, just sitting there with a muffin and a cup of tea.  You’d think he was poor as a church mouse.”  I looked over at the forlorn-looking man a few tables down in the cafeteria.  He wasn’t really even eating the muffin, just picking at it in very small gestures.  He certainly didn’t look hungry.  “I swear it’s like all these people are filing bankruptcy.”  I stared at Carolyn for a moment.  I was deathly afraid she was going to start on one of her rants any second.  Sure enough, she was.  I drew in my breath so she could get going, pick up steam.  She took one more glance around the nearly empty cafeteria and let loose; anyone could have heard her for miles around.  “They need to get a job!!!!  They need to pick themselves up off the ground.  Why can’t they see that!!  There’s plenty of work out there—plenty.  But these people are lazy!!  They’re full of it; they don’t know the first thing about getting a decent job.  I did it and they could too.  Right?  You know what I’m talking about don’t you Shermy?  My God, look, you’re the top man in your department now and you yourself started at entry-level!  You’re not going to tell me…”  She spun around to see some old bent-over guy with one of those wizened faces looking directly at her.  “Would you please be quiet, dear,” he said very politely.  “You’re too loud for some of us to deal with.”  I almost choked on my beef stew.  “Don’t you DARE laugh.  Don’t you laugh!!!” she warned.