Within the last week or so, I have gone to a local chain restaurant to eat.  The first because I was craving breakfast for lunch (or 2nd breakfast), and the other to get pie because, after all, it was free pie night.  This is a wonderful place for just observing and listening.  Let me share.

It’s always a little awkward to go to a restaurant alone – thank goodness for cellphones, right?  But I purposefully brought a book and was seated in a booth in a corner of the restaurant.  Very comfy for an introvert. Until the waiter seated a lady about my age, also by herself, in the booth next to mine, facing me.  This is always awkward; do you say hi, start a conversation, not ever look up?  She was pretty involved with her cell phone, thank goodness, but I heard the waiter say something about her coming in for her usual pie.  This sparked my interest.  Was this a weekly thing, a guilty pleasure?  Very shortly a plate of peach pie and ice cream arrived with some iced tea and I watched (while trying hard not to LOOK like I was watching), as she took her time and enjoyed this pie.  She had a look of quiet contentment on her face and it made me think twice about sucking down my breakfast/lunch when it arrived. I had no time table, unlike school where I can stuff down lunch in 10 minutes, so I slowed down.  And I enjoyed the flavor and the solitude. And as I got up to leave, I wished a good day to the lady across from me.

Sometimes conversations from a table close to you get your attention.  The first sentence from the girl, who looked to be about 4th grade was “Joey, don’t swear in public”.  Joey, obviously her brother seemed to be slightly older and was seated next to their mother, who never looked up from her cell phone during this conversation.  Never blinked an eye.  Maybe Joey swears all the time.  Maybe mom does and it’s not a big deal.  The next statement is what really caught my attention.  The server brought water to the table and the girl asks, “Is this sink water?  I can’t drink sink water!”.  After I finished laughing (inwardly of course), my next thought was, I wonder if she knows that there are people in the world who would give anything for “sink water”?  And here on her table, handed to her in a clean glass was cold, beautiful water.  I can’t say I would have been grateful either at her age (although bottled water was something I never considered back in the dark ages), but it was an opportunity to be grateful for what I had placed in front of me.  Her last statement, again to brother Joey was, “Joey, you watch too much Futurama”. Oh, and by the way, mom never looked away from her cell phone, except for the time she left the kids by themselves to step outside for a little bit.  Not that I’m making a judgement of any kind here. Or maybe she was just dreaming of school beginning again….