The Coffee Shop Chronicles No. 4

The thing I love most about writing these Coffee Shop Chronicles is that it forces me to work on my writing skills. I can't go to the Coffee Shop with a pre-written story or preconceived ideas. What I will write is based entirely on who is already at the Coffee Shop or who will walk through the door. Some weeks I am given wonderful gifts that make it so easy to write, and some weeks I am given less that I must turn into more by working it, shaping it. Those lesser weeks are the weeks that I grow as a writer.

I arrived at the Coffee Shop at ten minutes to nine.

The Order Taker was in her usual spot behind the register, as bright and cheerful as always. I can tell I am on the edge of becoming a regular. I see the recognition in her eyes when I walk in, but she doesn't quite know what to do with it from there. My friend Leon commented that I can't become a regular until  I stick with one kind of muffin. I am slowly working my way through their entire muffin selection, which seems to get bigger every week. Once I have tasted them all I will settle on a favorite or two, and then I can become a regular. They did have the Chocolate Mocha Magic one that I had last week and I was sorely tempted, but in the end I stayed true to my taste testing and went with Cinnamon.

Once seated at my table with my table props in place, I surveyed the room. Not a regular in sight, not even Chair Changer guy, and he had been here every week so far. Maybe he decided to ditch this frigid weather and head for a warmer climate. I can't blame him, I would too if I could. Unfortunately I am married to the guy that loves Winter.

At the Big Table today was a Book Club/Bible Study that was just finishing up their meeting. I craned my neck, covertly, to see what they were reading. On God's Side was the name, hence why I can't decide if they are a Book Club or Bible Study. I have a feeling they meet here the first Tuesday of every month, so I will have to remember that for March and get here earlier to catch some of their discussion. If it is anything like our book club, there could be some interesting conversations.

As the Book Club/Bible Study gals were leaving, my one and only regular came in, Meredith. She did not disappoint me, she ordered her usual to which The Order Taker even commented, telling her she should really step out and try something new. To which she laughed and said "I know I should". She took a photo of her food with her phone again and stayed standing to eat as before. I want to follow her on Instagram. My goal is, if she keeps coming on Tuesdays to try and strike up a conversation with her to get a little of her story.

The table directly to my right was occupied for the first time today. I gathered it to be a mentor/mentee relationship. The lady was probably around my age, mid 40's. The guy was probably in his mid 20's. The guy did a LOT of talking, non-stop talking. The lady had a bit of a glazed look in her eyes. He also did a lot of reading out loud from a book, which I generally find boring so maybe that accounted for her glazed look. When he was finally wrapping up his talking I heard him say "I would be happy to keep meeting with you and discuss this some more". I don't remember hearing much discussion. Needless to say she skee-daddled out of there pretty quick.

It has finally happened, somebody I know has walked in and of course sits at the table right in front of me. Thankfully we only know each other in passing, enough to smile and say "hi". I could tell he was waiting for someone because he had two cups of coffee on the table with him. So it was somebody he knew well, and I was correct. Not too long after his wife walked in and joined him.

I have always found observing couples dining together very interesting, especially when seated at a square, four chair table. Do they sit across from each other or next to each other? How much do they talk? What tone do they take with each other? I have observed some interesting interactions over the years. Couples that spend this time together on their phones. The couples that just sit there and don't talk to each other, I am probably most attuned to this one since that is what I grew up observing. The absolute worst that I have obversed was when I saw a lady playing solitaire on her iPad while her husband sat there totally silent and completely ignored, this continued throughout the whole meal.

This got me thinking, I wonder what people see when Glen and I eat out together? I know we sit next to each other more than we sit across from each other. We always talk, that was one thing I was determined to change from my own growing up years. We talk in normal, everyday conversational tones. At dinners out, the phones never come out. The only time the iPad come out is at breakfasts in hotels. Then we are both perfectly comfortable, he reading his daily newspaper and I catching up on my friends' blogs. Weekend dinners out are usually our time to catch up for the week, sometimes we have our best conversations over those dinners. I sure hope we are being good role models to those who might be observing us.

Until next week...