who's strange now

Here I am, as usual, sitting in Starbuck with my post-school coffee (differs from my pre-school, breaktime, post-drama lesson, LSU meeting, and lunchtime coffees in that I pay someone else to make it for me) The place is humming and the staff are looking more than a little overworked. School kids are leaving their trademark mess behind them and tables are overflowing with empty mugs and half eaten muffins.

In the midst of all this madness there is a woman walking round between tables clearing them and leaving everything in a tidy pile by the coffee bar. While the rest of us seem happy enough to shove the previous occupiers of our table’s leftovers to the side she is squeezing round us balancing eight venti mugs, three plastic cups and a sandwich cartoon on her fingers. She doesn’t work here, she isn’t even a customer – she just came in to lend a hand clearing tables.

As she lifts the cups from my table she looked up and asked what I was writing about – I told her – She smiled “They’re always busy at this time of the day.” She cleared the table next to me… and left. Her job here was done.

How awesome is that? A true servile attitude. I wouldn’t be surprised to discover she went straight over to Ground or some other coffee shop to start all over again. And always with a smile. Isn’t it sad, however, that my first instinct as I watched her was that she isn’t all there? Isn’t it sad that we have gone so far into a self-interested existence that we would rather wallow in some one else’s latte smeared mess while looking disapprovingly at overworked staff than do someone else’s job. What, are we scared of the barista union?