Thursday, October 10, 2013

Cup a Joe.

This morning while I stood in line to make my coffee, I got hung up by a couple of faculty members standing in front of the coffee and just talking shop.  They were done getting coffee and were blocking the entire coffee station from use.  (This is a VERY DANGEROUS practice and I do not recommend that you try it.  People have died from blocking access to the caffeine here in the research building).  I tried not to be annoyed by their lack of awareness, but my default these days is annoyed or just below it.  I stood and waited and waited and waited.

Then I waited behind them to pay.

And that's when the spark of magic showed up.  The young Indian (India Indian to clarify - as if it makes a difference) man insisted in paying for the gorgeous French supermodel/researcher (Yes, I'm sure she is both).  The gorgeous woman got flustered and actually blushed.  NB here - there was not one iota of smarmy, sexual, i-want-in-your-superskinny-sexy-pants in play.  It was a genuine offer made out of camaraderie.

When I ran into the woman five minutes later and said hello, she was STILL noticeably flustered by this small gesture.  She sheepishly admitted that no one had ever bought coffee for her before and seemed embarrassed by all of it.

And I caught myself slack jawed at the thought that no one had ever sprung for coffee for this gorgeous and smart as hell woman before.  Really?  Did I mention she's French?  Um yeah.  Like French Vogue French.    I found her blushes and flustration (yes, that's a word) genuine, so I didn't doubt she spoke the truth.

All of it made me smile and forget how annoyed I had been at two people I didn't care to wait behind.  If I hadn't waited, I would have missed this exchange and the spark would have died right there.

What spark you ask?

The spark that landed on my tinder and caught fire.
The spark that burned up my tedious impatience.
The spark that consumed the hard knot of judgment I carry re: beautiful women and how their lives are inherently easier than mine (Yikes - scary to admit that) just because they're gorgeous.
The spark that encourages me to do small gestures for people who don't expect it.
The spark that made me smile to be so wrong on so many fronts.

Cup a joe anyone?

2 comments:

  1. Just took a deep breath. Wonderful wonderful wonderful. Thank you, Mary.

    ReplyDelete

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