Mid Morning Rush
The smell of coffee wafts throughout the building as I quickly glance at the people around me, wondering what each person is thinking about. The sounds of people typing away on their keyboards, or scribbling on sheets of paper fill my mind. Someone in particular does catch my eye. His hair hit about his shoulders and was wearing round glasses as he just sat there, not doing anything. This is why he caught my eye. The tons of people were up to something and completing various tasks that they were taking their time to complete. But this one guy, in particular, is just sitting there, it’s almost as if he came here just to people-watch like I’m doing right now.
He casually lets his eyes wander and then periodically drinks the hot coffee that he is somehow drinking during this mid-summer hot morning. I’m sweating just thinking about how hot that could be. His white short-sleeve shirt has some sort of band design on it and I bet if you ask him at this very moment what are some songs from that very band, he would be the type to be able to answer that so confidently. He loves music, you can tell by the way he taps his feet to the sound of the beat of the soothing songs that are being played throughout this space of comfort.
The serene feeling crosses his face as he continues to feel comfort from his surroundings, but not from where he is, but from where he is going. He travels frequently but throughout his thoughts. And that’s where he finds the most comfort anywhere he goes. He doesn’t like to communicate or be pushed out of his comfort zone, but what he does love is for his mind to take him to a place of comfort. That comfort is filled with the joy of music and all the hot coffee in the world that he so visibly loves. I notice that he has a leather satchel of sorts kept next to his side hanging on the chair that he is sitting in. He looks down at it and pulls out a stack of five books. Along with a pair of wired headphones that aren’t hooked up to anything.
He starts with the first book in the pile and puts the headphones on his head and begins to read. The book was an older-looking book, where the binding was clearly tearing and the cover starting to lose its color. I couldn’t tell exactly what book he had begun to read, but I did recognize one in particular in the stack Little Women, an absolute classic that honestly would never have expected him to be the type to want to read. The wire to the headphones hangs down next to him, dangling as he still continues to tap his foot, but no longer to the beat of the song I’m hearing, but one rather playing within in his head. A well-traveled and well-read man in his own little place that he calls home.
Whether that be within the confines of a coffee shop or within the comfort of where he pays rent every month, he is able to take it everywhere and that is the brilliance of this stranger with the wandering mind.
Who: the wandering mind of a stranger
Where: Perfect Blend in Lexington, NC
When: mid-morning on Friday
What I’m Drinking: iced chai latte w/ oat milk
