To my right- about two o’clock:
“He came out 1969, September!
See he’s black;
He’s been black ever since!”
“Let me see”
“See. He’s black.
And let me show you what else. Move! See, that still counts!
He’s not being white--
See, that’s wolverine’s son.”
A Boy. Age: Unknown. Twelve?
Weight: A little above average.
The spread: in front of him, Chicken Salad. Giant Cinnamon Roll. Some yellow soda- Mountain Dew? Baguette on the side.
Amendment. Salad: gone. Baguette: only the crust. Cinnamon roll: way gone. Even the flakes. Clean plate.
He knocks the soda over- good thing there’s a lid. Dad glances over horrified.
Finally the boy rights the cup.
“1972!”
“Yeah see they didn’t have it before..”
“Dad! Don’t blame them!
Storm, storm—she was a female – she was black…
Black Panther- he’s African American- he’s king of the country _____.
(I miss it; Maconda? Something.)
Oh yeah, and the Hulk. He’s green. Yeah I gotta find another one.
Oh yeah! Dad! There’s actually a guy named Thunderbird and he was black.”
“Something about the benchmarks needs to be in here— ”
(Dad’s distracted. He’s teaching a lesson. Or something. He doesn’t hear the boy)
“Dad, in your face!”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“Dad, when was Wolverine’s first appearance?!”
“I have no idea. I didn’t read the comics..”
“Just guess.”
“1980.”
“Dad! What team was he on?! Dad!? It starts with an X!”
“Come on, I have to finish up here. The benchmarks…”
“X Men! Oh yeah, and Dad,
Don’t confuse these two- they’re not the same; they’re twins.”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
To the left (eleven o’clock?):
A boy learns manners—
“Which muffin do you want?
Chocolate chip?
Say ‘thank you.’”
“Thank you very much.”
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
I walk to the bathroom—
Overhear a woman
Rude.
Complaining about the size of soup bowls.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Another girl, blonde, skinny jeans, oversized bag and boyfriend.
She’s standing in the bakery line,
“Is there, like, a half thing with, like, a salad, and, like, a soup?”
“Yeah, it’s over in that line.” Stupid.
While I listen, I’m totally judging her. Shit.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
“Dad! Can I use your laptop now?”
[Guess he’s done marveling at Marvel.]
Yeah, you know what, but there are files on there. Don’t close out of any of them.”
“What?”
Another day I sat at this same table. And listened to sorority girls talk about their boyfriends. Some graphic stuff.
But the next time it was a woman talking about church. Her daughter’s rehearsal dinner.
A crapshoot of conversations.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Refreshing the coffee. A new brew. Push a chair in, move a table here. Busy bees mill around in green aprons, wiping floors. The honey they produce, no one tastes. And those who taste, taste without comment.
Everything empties out before the dinner rush.
Just a woman and a Cinnamon Crunch bagel.
A young couple on a date- the cynical me:
Psh, do people even go on dates anymore? Sometimes I don’t believe that boys have hearts. And they definitely don’t go on dates. But elsewhere they do. Maybe?
Two kids on their skateboards--
Middle school, I can tell.
Oh god. The worst days.
But these may be the cool kids- the ones who make others’ lives hell. Or their lives could be hell, made so by cooler kids. Who’s to know?
Clash, silverware.
People actually clean up after themselves here?
Look to make sure.
Nope-
Should have known. It was one worker bee, green apron, brown visor,
Cleaning up somebody else’s mess.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Behind me I hear a woman reviewing SAT problems with some kids.
One wears a Penn sweatshirt- does he want to go there?
My friend got deferred from there.
But maybe this kid knows something we don’t know.
(photo credit: adherants.com)
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