What if he wanted to steal the cake for his daughter’s birthday

In a coffee house inside Toronto Reference Library, a cripple man in burgundy sweat suits looked a little bit suspicious. He walked around nervously, ragged but not dirty. Actually, he didn’t look not that suspicious until the barista girl stopped him from taking a piece of chocolate cake from the bar.

By “taking”, I mean stealing. Otherwise she wouldn’t stop him. But I don’t want to assume that he’s gonna just take the cake and run away.

Then he reached out his hands again, lifted the lid of a cookie jar, and took a browny out of it. He moved so slow, barely can be called a thief. The barista saw him again, and told him he can not take the browny. He murmured something. No one can get what he meant. The barista was polite but firm, and he put the browny back and walked out quietly. He looked sad and embarrassed, but not mad.

The whole thing took less than half a minute. Neither of them spoke loudly, and most people in the coffee house probably haven’t noticed it. At the milk and sugar table, I watched his figure disappearing from the door. I believe if the girl doesn’t work for the coffee house, she wouldn’t want to deprive the pleasure of a browny from a non-aggressive poor guy.

“You want the milk?” The voice of a blonde guy next to me woke me up. He mistook my gaze as a gesture of waiting for the milk bottle in his hands.

“Oh, no. I’m just a little sorry for that guy,” I explained.

“Yah, I know. I wanted to buy him the cake.” He cringed.

“Yah, but the girl did the right thing.”

“She did the right thing. It’s a difficult choice. Here’s your milk.”

Why we both didn’t buy the cake for him? Because the barista stopped him in the most patient and friendly way possible. She is young girl who just want to do her job rightly. If we buy him the cake, we are effectively accusing her treating the man in a wrong way, which she didn’t.

See? Sometimes we’d rather the world is simply divided into good and bad. If the barista was a bullying bitch, we can stand up for the poor guy. Or if the guy is a malicious thief, then we can support the brave young girl. But what actually happened is they barely conflicted, yet it’s the best but most difficult scenario for everyone involved.

I can’t help thinking what if he want to steal the cake for his daughter’s birthday.

I took a seat by the window, and I saw him walked into a pizza place, and quickly came out with nothing in hands. After he walked out of a second fast food place with no good luck, I lost track of him in bright sunshine.

(I wanted to walk out and buy him some food, but I couldn’t fight back my fear for a poor and weird-looking stranger. And yes, I’m ashamed. Writing this piece is my only way to say sorry and best wishes. )