So the other day I took The Boy to school and walked to the coffee shop to do some work on my computer. This is what I love about Athens: there is a coffee shop within walking distance, the kind of place where you can get some work done and do some people watching and see townies and stay at home moms and band guys all mingling in the same space. And the baristas are the perfect mix of charming and uninterested in you, and they talk to each other and tell jokes and stories, which I accidentally overhear.
-"My great-grandfather's name was Scrappy Harrison, and he was a train conductor. Isn't that the best name for a train conductor?"
-"No. That's the best name for ANYTHING."
I smiled to myself, got my chai and sat down to do some work. Boring insurance billing and invoicing and returning emails. I'm chai sipping and email returning, minding my own business when these two guys came in and sat at a table very close to me. Note: there were other tables available that could've given them some more privacy and they chose to sit close to me.
So the one guy looks like he worked very hard to look like he just got out of bed. He has on a Kurt Cobain inspired flannel shirt, opened, on top of a concert t-shirt. He has on jeans and boots. The other guy looks like Steven Tyler, and his hair is shorter but jealousy-inspiring. We made eye contact, did a polite, tight-lipped smile to acknowledge their presence, and I went back to my work.
A few minutes later their words started flooding me, even as I tried to work.
Something was happening.
A breakup.
I wouldn't have pegged them for a couple, but who knows.
Really esoteric. A lot of it is personal pressure.......A mistrust is a problem.....
I remember one practice with Eric's group......that was real.
Ah, maybe it was a band breaking up? That would be SO Athens. I am potentially overhearing history here.
Even if we don't do that, I just want to do something.
.....Moving forward.....Situation.....Not the right time....I'm not living as I'm capable. Respect that space.....
Okay, maybe it IS a breakup. Maybe they are dissolving the relationship AND the band they have. Man, I was trying so hard not to listen. I was trying to work. Work, work, work.
You ok?....Just thinking.....Making more room for pursuing other things..... I've been finding myself gradually weaning myself over the past couple weeks..... No, I know what you're saying.
Whatever is happening, one is clearly the breaker and one is the breakee. The breaker is trying to be sensitive. What raw emotion. Please, whisper....don't make me hear this. I am embarrassed for the breakee that I've heard his heartbreak and I simultaneously want to give him a hug. I want to tell him there are plenty of fish- and bands- in the sea.
I realized.... I'm bound.... Let me finish.... I've hit a roof.... Distance.... The longer I stay.... I could feel his negativity.... Not to get away. To develop. Put these childish things aside.
Oh no. Now I've heard too much. If I get up they'll know I heard and it was awkward. If I stay, it's awkward. I'm inside their breakup. Oh, the throws of love! The emotion. The passion. The deep and vulnerable esoteric musings about life.
I'm not very well liked by the staff.....No, I understand....the kitchen...It would be hard to stay there.....
WHA? I just overheard a guy quitting his cooking job? With passion and emotion and sensitivity and vulnerability. Oh bless us all. I huff a sigh of relief. I am not in their breakup after all, mostly. And that's another thing I love about this city. People care about stuff. I don't know where they work(ed), but the next time I'm eating downtown I'm going to take a moment to reflect and wonder if as much passion went into my meal as went into conversations about kitchen staff changes....while I try not to overhear what the table next to me is saying.
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