flashback
i am sitting in a coffee shop in my home town passing the time until my doc appointment. this coffee shop is among the places that i spent a great deal of my late teen/early adulthood days. i am having a spectacular time listening to everything going on around me and recalling everything that i love/hate about this town. about this region and its culture, more accurately. this is a coffee shop. an espresso bar. but all of the activity resembles a small town diner more than a place that grinds espresso and roasts coffee beans.
a man just came in and was greeted by the barista and the regular already seated in the back. "hi, stan." he immediately began to complain that the carpets look just terrible and it doesn't look like anybody mopped. "that's terrible." then he "bellied up" to the bar where the local newspaper is already disheveled. the conversation between stan and the barista and the other guy has gone on for some time now. they spent at least 10 minutes trying to offer landmark directions to the young barista, trying to explain to her the location of a local golf course. she still has no idea what they are talking about. naturally, the weather was the next topic of conversation. it's cold. there are tornados in south dakota. did you hear the thunderstorm last night? once a storm was mentioned and someone made a reference to thunder, stan moved on immediately to fart jokes. apparently stan has a hard time with soup.
the other fascinating part of life here, and i had kind of forgotten this, is that if you are in a place like this and there are fewer than seven people you are automatically assumed a part of the conversation. at any given point in the discussion any member of the crowd may turn their attention on you and invite your input, fully assuming that you have been listening to everything they are saying and are interested in participating. in my case, of course, because i do things like this, i am listening. not, though, interested in participating. i have forgotten the script. i just want to make observations and take notes.
a third element... strangers feel compelled to acknowledge your presence and engage in at least a brief conversation. this conversation cannot end until at least one person has made at least one reference to the temperature outside or the chance of rain/snow in the forecast. i had this conversation with the young woman in front of me who wanted to share my electrical outlet for her computer.
and there is the ever present university athletic logo. it is actually not possible to open your eyes in public in this town without seeing the logo. "go sioux!" i hate this town.
i love this town.
now stan is talking about hookers in cuba. i hate this town. cover your tomatoes.
a man just came in and was greeted by the barista and the regular already seated in the back. "hi, stan." he immediately began to complain that the carpets look just terrible and it doesn't look like anybody mopped. "that's terrible." then he "bellied up" to the bar where the local newspaper is already disheveled. the conversation between stan and the barista and the other guy has gone on for some time now. they spent at least 10 minutes trying to offer landmark directions to the young barista, trying to explain to her the location of a local golf course. she still has no idea what they are talking about. naturally, the weather was the next topic of conversation. it's cold. there are tornados in south dakota. did you hear the thunderstorm last night? once a storm was mentioned and someone made a reference to thunder, stan moved on immediately to fart jokes. apparently stan has a hard time with soup.
the other fascinating part of life here, and i had kind of forgotten this, is that if you are in a place like this and there are fewer than seven people you are automatically assumed a part of the conversation. at any given point in the discussion any member of the crowd may turn their attention on you and invite your input, fully assuming that you have been listening to everything they are saying and are interested in participating. in my case, of course, because i do things like this, i am listening. not, though, interested in participating. i have forgotten the script. i just want to make observations and take notes.
a third element... strangers feel compelled to acknowledge your presence and engage in at least a brief conversation. this conversation cannot end until at least one person has made at least one reference to the temperature outside or the chance of rain/snow in the forecast. i had this conversation with the young woman in front of me who wanted to share my electrical outlet for her computer.
and there is the ever present university athletic logo. it is actually not possible to open your eyes in public in this town without seeing the logo. "go sioux!" i hate this town.
i love this town.
now stan is talking about hookers in cuba. i hate this town. cover your tomatoes.
posted by shelly at 9/18/2006 08:08:00 AM
1 Comments:
*Sigh* I love GF. I know these people. The small talk and acknowledgements are something I miss. I was at the coffee shop this morning and as I walked out the door, I said, "Good Morning" to the person coming in the shop. He looked at me like I was crazy. Didn't he know that I was from GF, ND.
Oh, I hate "sioux" too.
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