Coffee Shop Scrutiny

I was in a coffee shop yesterday and these women kept laughing and it was really irritating. Every time they all cackled, I looked over and glared at them. Then I contemplated how pathetic it is to be annoyed with laughter. I must have a problem. Maybe I just wished at that moment I was sitting with a group of close friends and sharing a secret laugh.

Then I noticed this young couple sitting at a table kiddy-corner to me. The blond girl wore a pink shirt, held a pink phone, drank out of a pink water bottle and I’m willing to bet was wearing pink cotton brief underpants. She also had on little pink rime stone earrings. I don’t know why, but this also irritated me. She kept petting her boyfriend. Not patting, or poking—petting him like he was a velour blanket or a puffy stuffed animal. That really annoyed me. Then I thought, am I getting annoyed by the sight of love? How cruel is that? I must have a problem. Maybe I wished I was sitting with a boy so I could pet him and wear girly colors and feel cute. No, I think I was just craving solitude.

I turned up my music louder to drown out the distractions. Rise, by Eddie Vetter filled my ears and I wanted to paint the lyrics on the walls because they make sense to me.

Then, a girl sitting at a table across from me, reading a book, a half empty plate of pasta in front of her, met my eye. Her dark eyes were warm and friendly. She seemed to give me a look of understanding, like, “Yeah, people are annoying; first you love them, then you hate them, and then you love them again.” I agreed with her eyes.

I looked around the coffee shop walls and noticed some incredible paintings, bright and colorful, that contrasted the drab sky, the gray and wooly clothing people wear in this town. I noticed how refreshing that burst of color is. And those are the things I should really focus on, right? The bright colors, the kind eyes I meet on occasion.

Finally, I noticed this squirrelly woman get up and move three times. Three!! She had this great seat by the window, her own observation deck. And she moved nearer to the barista station, which is loud and distracting. So then she moved again to the very center of the room. I thought, hey, at least I’m not the only one in the room who’s rarely satisfied.