I went to McDonald's this morning for breakfast. I like to do this all along. Sausage egg biscuit, orange juice and a coffee. Love McDonald's coffee.
The Canadians are all here, most of them in this very same McDonald's. I use to get peaved at them for driving so dang slow but I fixed that last year by starting to drive slower than them. I finally realized after all this time I'm no longer in a hurry to get anywhere. So now I'm the guy all the Canadians are backed up behind, waving their fists and trying to get around me.
I get my biscuit and round the corner. There are six tables lined up. The first five are filled with old Canadian couples - women on one side men on the other. I take the sixth table. The women are so animated. Talking non-stop. Waving their hands. Telling each other about their grand youngins and one of them about her great grand youngins. Showing each other photos on their smart phones. Lively chat to say the least.
I watch and listen as I drop crumbs from my biscuit onto my sweat shirt. Then I notice the five old men. All lined up in their row. All with blank stares. Just looking out at the parking lot and beyond. All holding their coffee cups with both hands on the table in front of them. Every now and then, one takes a sip so I know they are alive. I pick up the last bit of sausage that has fallen from my biscuit and wonder what is going on in the minds of these five fellows. I bet it is reruns of amazing lives. High times, high adventures. Or maybe they are all thinking, “I wish she would shut up. I have to go to the bathroom really bad.” Then it strikes me.
I'm the sixth old man setting there with both hands wrapped around my coffee cup. Staring out into space, thinking about what THEY are thinking about. I jump up and head for a short walk on the beach.....dang, that was close.