today in kindness from strangers
When the barista caught me staring at him - blankly, really - as I listlessly sipped from the nearly empty mug, I felt I owed him an explanation for my inactivity.
“I want to read a book that’s in my bag on the floor,” I said, perched on a high stool, “but I don’t want to move to reach all the way down there.” I shrugged. I’d move in a second. I just felt dumb sitting at there staring at him (at nothing) in a cafe full of hard-working students and screenwriters.
He laughed and made some mildly teasing comment.
But a minute later, after walking out from behind the counter for some other reason I didn’t deduce, he walked all the way around to where I was sitting, the furthest corner away from the entrance to the bar, bent over, picked up my book, and handed it to me.
