Something Isn't Right

Tasman Lake

Date: I think it’s a little silly I mean it’s just a series of awkward injokes…

I reach for the breadsticks but they aren’t there. The basket it empty. I open my purse and from within it comes tumbling breadsticks. Soft breadsticks. Crunchy breadsticks. Buttered breadsticks. Garlic breadsticks. They cover the table, spilling off onto the floor. My date is looking at me. He does not, can not understand. He is made of flesh. The sticks do not speak to him.

Me: I’m sorry I have to leave immediately.

The coffee timer is going off. It’s telling you you need to brew more. You don’t. The coffee grows colder but it’s still hot enough. You reset the timer and still it rings in your ears. The next customer complains that the coffee is too hot. 

The middle aged man sitting at the counter tells you he is a writer. The 20-something guy with a corduroy blazer tells you he his a writer. You’ve never seen either of them write anything. 

Rain slaps the windows and you have to mop 4 times during your shift. A woman with an umbrella sits outside on the patio furniture. She ordered a cup of Earl Grey tea but she doesn’t drink it. Her umbrella isn’t open. You hope she doesn’t come back inside so you don’t have to mop up after her. 

A soccer mom yells into her cell phone, waving a credit card in your face. She’s ordered 4 skinny vanilla lattes and her teenage daughter ignores her pointedly. They wear matching Ugg boots. They don’t tip you.

The same song has been playing for ten minutes. You’re unsure how to work the sound system. No one appears to have noticed. The song has always been playing. It will always be playing. 

Your clothes always smell of old coffee. The smell lingers even after you’ve washed them. It’s an essential part of the fabric, now. 

Your coworker wants to discuss existentialism with you. He’s been reading Nietzsche. You don’t care. 

Everyone you work with is in a band. Two of them are in the same band. They change their band name every 2 weeks.

have a lovely day, friends!