And maybe caffeine won’t kill me or stunt my growth, but it will make me look like a jerk.
The girl behind the counter is so cute. She’s like this tiny little thing, but with jet black hair in this super cool style. Awesome tattoos. Great make-up. She has a ton of style and I am acutely aware that I am wearing Cedric’s jacket from last season and the wrong shoes for these pants.
She is helping a woman in front of me, and the other girl behind the counter took my order (regular coffee, 16oz, room for cream). But she passed the order on to the cute girl and then the cute girl asked me if I wanted anything else. The woman in front of me answered – and that makes sense that she would. She was digging in her vast purse and didn’t see that the girl was talking to me. The woman makes some comment about answering other peoples’ questions and that was that.
That was that until I started to talk. And talk. I set off on a tear that – though I willed it to end – just wouldn’t. It started out with how one time this guy told my friend he liked her dress, but I thought he was talking to me so I said ‘thank you’ and then he looked blankly at me and said, ‘ok, I like your dress too’. That was enough to garner empty stares but I didn’t let them stop me. I kept going. About all sorts of things, including – but not limited to – high school and graduation.
I stopped talking and it appeared that I had avoided any more shame. But what actually happened, was that I just put it on hold while I walked a few feet to the table with the cream.
I was thrown off initially by not knowing which container was milk and which was half & half. I grabbed one and decided whatever it was, it would be fine. I started to pour slowly, but nothing but a few drops would come out. I turned it upside down. A few drops. I adjusted the lid, thinking maybe it wasn’t opened enough. I did the slow pour followed by the upside down pour again. A couple more times. Finally, I just took the lid off and hello – there is no cream in this container.
On to the next one: I start to pour slowly, then upside down. I remove the lid entirely again – not going to fool around with trying to adjust the lid to make the opening bigger. And it’s full. I could have just adjusted the lid.
Now the cool thing here, is that the shop is full. It’s very small. Everyone is there with someone and they are talking and having fun. Even the people in the line behind me, waiting for me to get out of the shop are with a friend. I just really want to get out of there, but first, I need to put the travel lid on my cup.
Of course, this poses a problem for me, as I am very awkward. I get the lid, very aware that I need to hurry. And I can’t do it. I try. I really do. I try all sorts of different approaches. I try making faces while I slowly slide the lid over the rim. I move one shoulder up and squint. Nothing works. Finally, I just have to get out of there, so I shove the lid down and by the grace of God, it went on. It could have just as easily made the cup slip out from the bottom and scalded my onlookers with some very hot – and delicious – coffee. Thank you Jesus for not letting that happen.
I think that if I’d just said Thank You at the cash register, none of the other things would have happened. So when I teach my kids the importance of Please and Thank You, I will tell them that if they don’t have manners, they will look like crazy people.
Filed under: Uncategorized
