A CoffeeBird Sanctuary

I was having dinner by myself at a Vietnamese pho restaurant and was seated next to this large table of 10+ people. You can tell that they were mostly finished with their meal, the table was covered with empty bowls and plates. There was lots of laughing, loud talking, which I found kind of rambunctious but tolerated. I’m seated less than four feet away trying to mind my own business, checking Twitter, trying to draw deeper within myself at a sudden outburst of laughter, waiting for my food, and hoping they’d leave so I can eat in peace.

The food arrives, it’s delicious (when you’re starving everything gets a +50 buff to deliciousness) and they’re still quite loud and lively. I didn’t mind it and just kept to myself. Halfway through my meal they tried to take a group photo before going their separate ways using their phones. The problem was, the person that’s taking the photo was not in the photo. So a person from the group would get out taking a group photo of that person with their phone. Then another person in the group would get out taking a photo of missing person with the group...and so on.

The servers being 200% disinterested in doing anything that was not absolutely not required of them (serving food, making sure you pay your bill before you leave) wasn’t offering any assistance or eye contact. I got the vibe from the group that they’re about to break up and decided to make eye contact and smiled at which point someone from the group immediately asked if I can help take their picture.

I happily obliged, taking three photos with one phone, then three more with another, and then three more with another, and another. The group felt silly as the seconds stretched into the minutes territory and their smiles got wider with each successive photo taken.

When they were satisfied that I have exhausted their supply of phones they thanked me and one of them remarked that they hadn’t seen each other in 30+ years. In that split second it instantly transformed my opinion of the previously disruptive, messy, loud, group I was seated next to into complete awe. They are no longer a nuisance, but people with families, friends, relatives, apart for three decades reunited together at this moment in time. And I sat right next to them.

I could have easily continued to mind my own business and they could have given up on taking a complete group photo and broken apart again. Who knew when or if they would be together again? Or they could have finally managed to force one of the servers to help but we’ll never know that for certain. This group had a moment over a quarter-century apart and I helped make it possible. They didn’t know me, I didn’t know them. Finished my dinner, paid my bill, and quietly slipped back into the night.

They’ll always have that moment now immortalized in a digital photo. And for a brief moment, I felt like I was a part of it too.