coffee talk

It seems like forever since the last coffee talk. Did I mention that I love this coffee shop? I have been here everyday this week so far. Today I decided to try the Strawberry Almond scone. That was a good decision.   Another good decision I made today....doing stairs at the high school. My legs will be mad tomorrow for sure. Nothing like hitting the stairs hard going up and doing squats on the way down. :) Sweet torture.

Alright. Coffee talk. Here is my scene:
Well, I just moved seats. I just sat in that seat to take the picture and the girl that you see in the pic behind me kept looking at me like I was taking a picture of her. Narcissist. The scene has changed a bit since I took that pic. We now have 8 folks outside. There is a girl at the table in front of me who has a funky haircut and color. It has orange (bright orange) and blonde and brown. It is short but a bit of it is pulled back in a little bun. She has on cool yellow shoes and is eating a scone. Her left nostril is pierced.   She is ready a book called Twelve Ordinary Men (maybe disciples???) and her sunglasses are on her head. She seems to be waiting for someone.


Who else..
The guy who has the wrap thingy on his head. It is dark green. He is drinking Pelligrino and seems to be writing or drawing. He is drawing. He keeps looking at me. I wonder if he is drawing me. Narcissist. He had good scruff and is wearing a black v-neck. Dark jeans and Adidas shoes. He is thinking a lot. I wonder what he is drawing......
There are 2 girls eating grilled cheese. Well, one is. the other just has a latte. There is an older woman close to me who is just on her phone. I think she is waiting for someone.

Digress...I love when people look around as they are waiting for someone. It is as if they want to make sure that everyone knows that they are not at a coffee shop by themselves. The look to the left. A quick glance to the right. iPhone check.  A quick fumble in the bag and repeat.
 The other people have left. That is it of the coffee talk.

Can I talk about the road this week?
 Ummm. I guess it's a holiday weekend and everyone from all the other states decide to come here. I am desperate to see a Virginia license plate. I wish there were a manual for all those not from Virginia/D.C  so that cars would move a bit more smoothly when times like this occur. Oh the out-of-towners. They just crack me up. They stick out like a...well...they just stick out like crazy.  They slow down our busy little world. They order slow. They drive big huge vans. They have lots of children. They don't know what to do when the toll plaza comes up. They panic when a decision on the road needs to be made. They are the least efficient people. And they should be. Right? They are entering a new world by coming to our crazy metropolitan area. I am not mad at them, I just suggest that they get a manual when they cross states lines so they know what to do in situations like ordering a latte and how to pay at one of the Pay-to-park spots.
So...are you suspecting that someone drove really slow in front of me or someone took way to long fixing their coffee or someone took an eternity to pay at the parking spot? Yes. all of these happened today. Maybe we Nova/D.Cers need to use this time with the "foreigners" as an opportunity to learn some patience....
But maybe we don't.
Maybe we need to welcome the Michigan and Carolina plates with open arms and be gentle and kind.
But maybe we don't.
Every time that I have gone to a foreign country, I am first given lessons in the culture and I get a booklet of the do's and don't. I am told in Cambodia to not show the bottoms of my feet and not to look men in the eyes and I am warned, when going to Mexico, to not drink the water and not travel outside of the home by myself. SO....why not get prepped for travel to our area?
It does seem like a foreign country to those who are from small towns and we have do's and don'ts.
Until legislation passes the bill to have booklets passed out at the "borders", I guess I will just have to use the situations that I am presented with as teaching opportunities. I will extend grace to the man who takes up the entire counter to "doctor up" (that is what my dad says) his coffee and squeeze in, showing him that, the space that 1 "foreigner" takes up is equivalent to 4 spaces for us locals.
It's my birthday month.