Today I am in Spokane, Washington for my lovely friend Teal's graduation. Teal is doing all the requisite breakfasts, bbq's etc and being a charming (but in demand) hostess. So, with some free time I decided to grab a cafe au lait at a fair trade coffee shop called Natural Start. The place is in a little house with a red roof. The door is a light oak color with an oval glass window and inside it looks as if a big, extended family is sprawled out in their living room. There is an older couple sitting in content silence with mismatched mugs of coffee. There is a woman, the aunt, cozy on a leather couch with a scone in front of her, engrossed in a book. A man is sitting at a chess table is looking at a magazine, gazing out the big front window. A teen girl is sitting on a high stool in front of the window, she's the daughter of the chess table man. The scene is relaxed, warm and welcoming. I'm jerked out of my little fairytale as I remember that this house is actually a coffee shop and no one is related.
But that feeling...that anti-starbucks, authentic, organic feeling is overwhelming here. I took a seat on the leather couch next to the "aunt." She immediately asked if I had enough room (although she was crouched in the far opposite corner I'm sure she'd take to the floor if I asked for more room). The barista brings over my coffee and vegan muffin. I pretend to study my history notes as I listen to the conversation around me, to the delightful surge of B.B.'s King's voice. The "aunt" leans over and says, "I usually don't ever talk on my phone in public, I think it's impolite. But would it bother you if I called my father? I need to check on him." I was completely rattled. Never before has anyone asked if it would bother me if they chatted quickly on their cell phone. Of course, I reassured her, it would be fine if she called her father. Etiquette. I was a firm believer it had disappeared, especially regarding cell phone use. Thank you "Aunt."
B.B. King's voice is perfect for the setting you described. I was able to picture the scene perfectly. You are turning to such a great reporter, although it's sad that the teen girls father was reading a magazine instead of getting to know his daughter though. It sounds like you were witness to three interesting stories playing out, the old couple still enjoying saturday mornings still in love, a daughter desperate for her fathers attention and possibly the future version of that same teen the middle aged woman worried about her father's possibly failing health still so desperate fro her fathers attention she returns to the coffee shop every saturday to replay the conversations they never had when she was a teen. I don't mean to get too deep on you but you really took me there with your writing. I felt like I was watching a movie and found myself caring about the characters. Well done Miss Stiff.
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