What Is the Point?

We were the only ones sitting in the coffee shop. Others walked in, ordered and left again but we were the only two who decided to take a seat and watch for a while. I love sitting at one of two tables in that shop. One gives me a view of the main street and a glimpse of the park; the other, an only slightly-obstructed view of the kitchen and the coffee bean storage room. I love peeking in that room. Huge burlap bags of beans lying around like relatives after Thanksgiving dinner... prone, still and a bit bloated. If I liked coffee, that room would be my idea of heaven.

That morning I had chosen the table by the window. It was a busy day and the lure of passersby was just too appealing. I didn't even pull out my phone or journal, I just sat transfixed by what was moving past the window. He had chosen a table on the other side of the room, but since the room is only about ten feet across we were well within conversational distance. I felt him watching me for a few minutes, while I watched the world outside, and then turned to ask him if this town was his home. It wasn't, we were both just pulled here for different reasons that morning but that was enough of an opening that he walked over and sat down with me. We sat in companionable silence, watching. 

Finally he asked a question. I answered and asked him another question. We vollied back and forth for a while, the traffic on the street temporarily forgotten. He asked what I did for fun. I rattled off the standard response of hobbies and then threw out, "And, I'm a writer." Without missing a beat he said with a bit of a chuckle, "Really? I've always hated reading. I just don't see the point." Without missing a beat, I excused myself to get a refill of my herbal tea. As I made my way past the table and to the door, I held up my watch and said, "I have to go. Have a good day." 

He was left to watch through the window as I became just another figure walking by, walking away. If asked why I didn't stay, sadly, I just didn't see the point.

Comments

[Mary]

What's the point?? Really?? How sad for him.