Appearances

Last week I met someone who mentioned that the Sci-Fi Lounge is back and this time its home is in Crestwood Plaza. The grand opening was Saturday and I got a wicked idea. I had never been to this place but something told me it was a hangout for gamers, computer nerds and the like. So, why not show up dressed in Goth? From time to time I enjoy walking the streets looking silly or wearing something totally out of my comfort zone for the night. It's more or less of a social experiment coupled with entertainment for my mind.

I gathered a few friends and we met up at a Chinese restaurant before heading to the lounge. There was only three of us and while we didn't look way freaky we definitely looked like Marilyn Manson groupies. Black eye make-up, black lips, and just about black everything. I felt crafty and cut my tank top in half and put it back together with large safety pins. I might actually wear this out again-it looks super cool! Anyway, we showed up to the Chinese joint, sat down and ordered. What should have been a yummy dinner turned into an obnoxious, laughable and outright rude affair. When our waiter approached us, he looked down at us with judging eyes. We each stated what we wanted, he wrote it down and then repeated our order. However, what he repeated wasn't our order at all! If this guy didn't have an American accent I would have thought nothing of it but unfortunately that was not the case. Once again we told him our order and he appeared to get it the second time.

First, we got our appetizers and everything was pretty good. Then, we got the first part of our meal: Soup. I as well as my friend R ordered Hot&Sour and N ordered Egg Drop. R and I got Hot&Sour while N was given chicken noodle. Upon telling the waiter he got the wrong soup, the waiter retorted "No, you ordered this. I heard you say noodle, not egg." N, not wanting to pick a fight calmly accepted the wrong soup as we waited for our main course. Once again, the orders turned out all wrong. I was given the wrong chicken dish and N was given fried rice instead of white. The waiter scoffed when we told him our order was wrong and truly wasn't going to fix it. He ran off and we stared at our plates, then at one another in shock. What kind of waiter gives you the wrong food, mocks us when we tell him we didn't order what was in front of us and then walks away? Finally, we flagged him down and he gave us the right dish but of course he had to tell us that he was right and we were wrong.

I had not felt this type of discrimination since I died my hair dark brown once and got a super tan from being in a desert for two weeks. People would look at me like I was a "terrorist". I think it was my nose. Or possibly I had some sand residue. Maybe it was both. Or neither. Anyhow, the point is that i am always amazed at how quick people are to judge and you are treated so differently simply by the way you dress or put on your make-up. It's sad because what if I was actually attracted to the Goth look and it made me super happy to dress it but then I would get repeatedly treated like shit. Perhaps that's the point of Goth? Regardless, the asshole waiter was not given a tip and received Hell Money instead.

Hell Money is a form of Joss paper that looks like money. It usually comes in the form of giant denominations such as 500,000,000. Joss paper are sheets of paper that are burned during traditional Chinese ancestor worship ceremonies or at Chinese funerals to ensure that the spirit of the deceased has money for the afterlife.

Knowing that the Chinese culture is rich in superstition, I gave our waiter a Hell Note because in Chinese culture, receiving a Hell Note is very, very bad luck. Don't mess with Goth kids yo'!

As for the Sci-Fi lounge, they welcomed us with open arms and it made my inner geek glow knowing that my kind of people happen to be open and accepting. I even got compliments on my red shoe laces and black chucks. While the place itself isn't too fantastic, I can see it as a place to meet other cool geeks.