LJ Idol Week 25 - Waffle House Index

[messygorgeous]

Brie didn't belong here. Her posture, her clothing - cashmere sweater, camel hair coat folded carefully across her lap - was selected specifically to let everyone in the clinic know that this was not the sort of place she frequented.

She sat, back rigid on the equally unyielding blue plastic of her chair, and stared through veiled eyelashes at the

Comments

[i_17bingo]

This was utterly fantastic! Not only did you redefine the Waffle House Index hilariously, you revealed a lot of the prejudice that comes with it, leaving the reader feeling a little uncomfortable. And you wrote about abortion, which is extremely brave.

[messygorgeous]

Thank you so much. It is a bit of a departure from what I've been writing lately, but when I was thinking about what a Waffle House I decided meant to me, this is what I arrived at.

[rayaso]

What a great idea, to turn the Waffle House Index into a social standing scale, and have the point of view of both the mother and daughter, and then set it against having an abortion! The realization that "But for the grace of God, they were all 10's on the Waffle House Index" and "I'm a 10" was wonderful. The mother was a real prize, with all her snarky thoughts about the other people in the waiting room, who were, after all, there for the same reason.

[messygorgeous]

EXACTLY! I think judgemental people lose sight of the fact that there are great levelers, things that put every person on even standing. Once you reach that point of thinking you are untouchable, it's often hard to go back. Thank you so much for the praise!

[marlawentmad]

This was surprisingly heart-rending. I feel so badly for the poor girl being sidled with such a judgmental mother.

[messygorgeous]

I am glad it was impactful, although sorry if not in a happy way for you. This was a fairly dark piece, but when I ruminate on what the prompt said to me, this was the path I had to follow!

[halfshellvenus]

The girl's mother was both obnoxious and believably so. Her snooty, judgmental behavior was a really good use of the prompt.

The daughter's POV provides the depth and pain behind these circumstances, which are awful for her and for everyone else. It was a tough read, emotionally, but captured the reality of the situation very well.

[messygorgeous]

Thank you. I am glad the rawness of emotion was translated here. I wasn't sure if this was the sort of thing that warranted a trigger warning, but I knew the content was quite dark. I think someone in Emma's position experiences myriad feelings, even if an abortion is a choice they have made for themselves.

[penpusher]

I don't think I'm going out on a limb when I believe Brie is a member of the Juniah League!!

A well-crafted mix of amusing/mundane/despairing.