knock knock knockin' on heaven's door...

Today I watched people. I want to say that it wasn’t in a creepy way, but to be honest, I think it sometimes came across that way.

As I was driving to yoga, I saw a woman ahead of me, standing at the corner waiting for the light to change. She must have just come outside because she was still putting on her coat. As she flipped the bottom of her jacket, two pigeons flew out from behind her. From my perspective, it looked as though she was shaking birds from the sleeves of her coat.

I stopped in at Remedy to sit with my friends, Beth and Joel, who were working on some homework there and when I came in the door, I saw a couple sitting at a table with a vase of flowers and tin cup full of markers. There was a little “reserved” sign and an unfurled green ribbon laying on the table too. She had her hair tied in braids and the ends of his hair stuck out from underneath his cap. She laughed and played with her earrings a lot. He adjusted his glasses and rocked his feet back and forth on his chair.

After, I sat down across from Joel and Beth, a woman came in wearing a cream coloured, knitted wool cap, a nose ring and a big wooden necklace. She had her little girl strapped against her back in a kind of backpack/sling style. When she got to the counter, she crouched down so her daughter could get out. The girl looked about three years old and stood in front of the cake display with one hand to her mouth and one finger tracing the outline of the deserts. Her mom stood beside her looking at the drink menu, brushing the girl’s hair back with her fingertips. Then she leaned down, kissed her hair and pointed at the cake her daughter was eyeing.

There was a woman sitting in the corner talking on her cell phone, typing on her computer and drinking her chai all at once. She looked professional, sleek. Like she wanted to make an impression of importance. She was wearing a stripped blue and black shirt; the blue was so dark that you could hardly tell the color difference. I liked it and smiled at her. She smiled back.

A university guy came in then and sat at an empty table…waiting. He looked at his watch twice but didn’t go up and order. He was holding a brown canvas and leather bag, worn and ripped with snaps that didn’t work, but wearing brand new black Oakley shoes. A blond haired friend came, said he was going to get Chai and they went together to the counter. They stood by the tea selection for a while chatting before they came back with a coffee and a milkshake. Then they grabbed the chess board and while they set it up, talked about Xbox.