One Event, Two Stories, Facts, PERCEPTION, all ours.
Part One
Sunday afternoon, two women come into Harrods of Knightsbridge for afternoon tea. They find their way to the Georgian Room on the fourth floor.
Seated, after waiting for a few minutes, one woman gets up to go the ladies room. The other woman orders two Earl Grey pots of tea and the high tea selections of food. The Crystal chandelier, the floral arrangement mid room and the automatic piano add to the ambiance.
Shortly, the waiter brings the tea and food and they begin to chat. Within a few minutes two women dressed in long black attire with their heads covered with black veils pass by and get seated. They have dark eyes, olive skin. Four dressed like them are waiting for a table. A table behind the two women has eight seated around the table. They begin to notice more arrivals and more tables with the women dressed in black. They all have dark eyes, olive skin, some are tall, others are younger, some with more makeup. They also notice over three tables with only men seated around them. Each table seats eight. They all have dark eyes, olive skin, some are tall, others younger, some with moustaches. They continue to observe and count the tables with individuals dressed like the women and resembling the looks of the men. Over 14 tables are occupied by these individuals, 10 tables are empty and 3-4 tables have other guests with different nationalities, non Arab of course.
Four light colored skin men dressed in beige suits pass by turning to all sides. Each has a coiled wire behind their left ear. Soon another suited man passes by with the same coil behind the left ear and also looking in all directions.
There is one woman dressed in the same long attire and veil but hers is lilac in color.
Fewer tables with individuals dressed in attire that does not call attention are occupied. The faces of all the individuals have unique and changing expressions. There is movement of people around the restaurant including the waiters, guests, and men dressed in suits with coiled wires behind their left ears.
The waiter comes to the table and one of the women asks “What is going on?” The waiter replies.
What do you think is going on?
STORY ONE
It was a cloudy Sunday afternoon, a bit ominous with a chill announcing a change in the autumn season fast approaching. A visitor to London takes the resident daughter to High Tea at the famous Queen’s store, Harrods of Knightsbridge. It is perfect for this kind of fare. The Georgian room on the fourth floor is opened later than usual. Today it is opened and serving tea until 7 p.m. They are asked to wait until a table is secured for them. They are escorted to their table.
The mother leaves to go the Ladies Room, while the daughter orders Earl Grey tea to go with the tea service. When the mother returns, the tea service has been set at the table with fine linen cloth. They begin to delight in conversation and the beautiful array of tea sandwiches, scones and sweets. Rose petal and raspberry jam sit alongside the dish with the clotted cream.
Suddenly as the mother looks up to notice the grandness of the room, two Arab women dressed in their traditional black long gowns and veils pass by. They have dark eyes who do not make eye contact, olive skin and dark black demarcated brows and lipstick on their lips.
She takes note that there are four others waiting to be seated. She turns to look behind her and notices a table of eight women all dressed in the same black robes and veil. They all have dark eyes and do not make eye contact, olive skin, and dark brows They comment about the Arab lifestyle and how women are treated and how harems and multiple wives are acceptable if given the same lifestyle. They comment on whether they are related.
The mother notices that there are three other tables with Arab men sitting around also having High Tea fare, but with other drinks on the table. None are eating out of the tiered tea food service. All have dark eyes and hair, with olive skin, some taller than others, some younger, some with moustaches. Some are texting on their cell phones and looking beyond those at their own table.
More tables are noted with women dressed in black attire with veils. There is one woman dressed in the same attire with a veil but her color is lilac. There are more tables with Arabs than with non Arabs at the restaurant. It is noteworthy that there are a total of 14 tables filled with Arabs, 10 tables are empty and about 3 0r 4 have other nationalities. None smile or have eye contact with the rest. The tables ,now empty, reflect it is getting later in the afternoon past high tea time.
The crystal chandelier, the huge fresh floral arrangement mid room and the backdrop of piano music, pale against the signs of possible tensions.
Four English or American men dressed in beige suits with the coiled ear piece that guards or secret service men use pass by slowly, each looking in all directions without moving their heads. Another security man dressed the same follows and does the same thing. He is talking into a mouthpiece that is barely visible.
The women start getting preoccupied. They notice other non Arab guests looking preoccupied but pretending not to be. Immediately, the mother and daughter try to have nonchalant conversations of an exit plan of safety. They talk about the recent uprisings in the Arab world and how social media and texting supported the success of the takeovers. The mother talks about her new phone and the new alarm that goes off when there are weather warnings and the phone becomes unusable until one confirms and accepts the “alert signal.” They talk about government tracking for security reasons. The resident daughter states she is unaware of the new technology in the phones.
The two try to smile at the women who do not respond. The Arab women take their purses and some get up. The waiter finally comes to the table and the mother asks. “Is something going on, we just saw security pass by and things feel tense.” The waiter replies.
What do you thinks is going on?
STORY TWO
It was a perfect afternoon for High Tea in London. The weather was a bit chilly even though the sun was still out. The feel of autumn was in the air.
The young daughter knew her mother who was visiting London loved High Tea at Harrods. They walked in with confidence, having been there each year for the past twenty years, knowing they would go to the Georgian room on the fourth floor. Having no reservations, they were thrilled they were seated in less than five minutes.
The young waiter from Guadalajara, took the order of Earl Grey and tea sandwiches, scones and sweets from the young daughter, while the mother went to the recently renovated powder room. There was an excitement about being at Harrods again. The crystal chandelier sparkled, the immense fresh floral arrangement of hydrangeas and iris’s in a stunning pewter vase sat on a table mid room adding to the elegance of the room and the invisible piano man tickling the ivories in lieu of the traditional harpist complemented the not forgotten charm of High Tea at the Queen’s Store.
Two beautiful women dressed in traditional Arabian clothes, the abaya and shayla, passed elegantly by in their long black gowns. The veil wrapping their head made their dark round eyes and stunning black brows stand out against their olive skin. Their lips were colored in red. They looked around the room and noticed there were four more women equally beautiful waiting to be seated, while a table of eight behind them was graced with more of the beauties. There were three other tables with men only. The black, stunning eyes and hair with their olive skin reminded the mother of Omar Sharif. Some were older and taller, perhaps all related. They sat apart from the women true to their traditions they thought. They looked past their table as far as their eyes could see There were 14 tables filled with these lovelies and their counterparts and about 10 now empty and about 3-4 with other nationalities. One dressed in a noticeably different color than the rest. Her color of clothes was lilac. She had never seen so many beautiful Arabian women all in the same room.
There were other tables with non-Arabian guests, including theirs. They were non distinctive by comparison. They noticed how the men had Perrier at their tables and had very trendy mobile phones on hand. The men were not eating the tea fare, but were chatting among themselves while the women drank their tea. They wondered if High Tea was something they too had in their country with all the globalization and diversity of cultures everywhere.
Four mid age white, men dressed in beige suits walked through the dining room, each wearing a communication device behind their left ear as when they are trying to coordinate security. They all looked around with their eyes without much head movement trying to be discreet. After the four left the dining area another man, looking like the chief of security came through and did the same thing. Other guests were looking around the room. Something of importance was to happen.
Both the mother and the daughter looked at each other with excitement. The waiter came to the table and the mother asked. “What is going on?” He replied.
What do you thinks is going on?
Here are the facts:
The waiter replied, “This is an annual affair. Many from the Arab countries who are of course wealthy come to spend Ramadan in London. It is over now and they will return back to their countries soon. But, they all come to High Tea and this is why we stay open even later than usual serving High Teas. Today, though the Prince of the Arab country is here in the room with us. You see he is sitting over there.
These are his security guards not Harrods security guards. Things are monitored from cameras for the store. You rarely see security walking around the restaurant. These families come every year for a change of weather and pace. The women are beautiful aren’t they?”
to be continued:
Maria Hilda Pinon, author of The Willows of Corona, a novel, and Candles in the Dark…poems to grieve, hope and love again.
theevolvinghealer 