O Madison

I was finishing up my lunch at the Minto Place, at the corner of Lyon Street and Laurier Avenue, getting ready to head back to my work place. Most of the people in the Minto Building are public servants, but since there are restaurants, there are also employees in their respective uniforms, security officers as well as custodians/care takers. It is also not uncommon for locals or non-employees to pass through the building from the transit station at the corner of Slater and Kent. 

I noticed a young man, no older than 35 years. He was not wearing an ironed dress shirt, as the majority of the men wore in that building, nor did he wear the alternative preppy polo shirt. He wore a tuque with his black oversized sweater with the hood on, maybe white baggy t-shirt, and black jeans with sneakers. This guy found an electric outlet right by the fancy doors of Madison’s Restaurant and Bar, and laying his belongings near the outlet, began to charge his cell phone. He may have had a few bags, his beat-up knapsack, and some other stuff. This restaurant is no McDonald’s or Lone Star’s, but a double dollar sign steakhouse in a mostly public service building, in Ottawa’s downtown core.      

A middle-aged man, very well put together (i.e. pressed shirt, suit and pants with a tie sort of guy), stormed out of Madison’s, beyond enraged at the young man who was trying to charge his phone. He was pacing back and forth, and instead of asking him politely at first, he spiked to level 1000 in rage, and ordered the young man to leave. This enraged man seemed important. Perhaps he was a manager or someone in management – I do not know. All I know I was struck very deeply by how disrespectful the man was, and how dehumanizing his comportment was towards the young man.