I'm not a good judge of age, but I'd guess her to be in her 70s. Sitting at a small (for two) table by herself. Beside her there's a table of 5 old people--they had to pull an extra chair up to accommodate their whole crew. I get my breakfast (#2 meal) and go to a table just beside the table of five. Take off my coat and sit down, open my Kindle to read, and then she is standing beside me.
"Excuse me, sir, before you get started. Do you use your coffee coupon?"
"Coffee coupon?" I respond, turning my coffee cup in my hand until I spot it. I begin to peal it off.
"Yes, when you get five of them you get a free coffee, " she says, like she'd been hired by McDonald's to make customers aware of this fantastic perk.
"Well, here you go, then. Have a coffee coupon."
"Thank you," she says, and she shuffles back to her seat. She's wearing sweat pants. Blue. Dark blue.
She sits down, and I steal a look over at her. She has a large coffee cup on her table, and she's eating something that looks like deconstructed hash browns.
She's up again a few seconds later, making her way across the room just as a man sits down in a booth. "Excuse me, sir, do you use your coffee coupon?"
She scores again.
I see her approach other people: a middle-aged couple (score), a single older woman (no) and another older woman who feels the need to explain that not only does she use the coupons, but that she has a box for them in her car.
"A box in your car, " the woman echoes, and shuffles back to her seat again.
I recognize myself in the last old woman. The need to explain. The need to be believed, and the assumption that you're not, I guess. To give details which verify the authenticity of what you've said. Underneath that, I think, is compassion. The desire to let the other person know that you 're not dismissing them. But it sounds pretty silly when you're listening to someone else do it
I tune in to the large group for a moment.
"Tell me what you're doing today. I want to hear everybody's plans," a woman who at first looks much younger than the others at the table . . . but a closer look shows that it's just that she's dyed her hair . . . the rest of her is old . . . says.
One of the guys answers, "bank & buy bird seed." Discussion ensues. Somewhere along the line the questioner contributes, "You know it's a sin to kill a mockingbird. You ever read To Kill a Mockingbird?" Eventually she mentions the movie. Then the conversation shifts to whether ot not George (apparently not present) is still losing weight.
The conversation shifts to other business, and one of the guys says,
"We have a lot of priests running on hot air." Then he tells a story, something about him sitting on the church organ. Everyone laughs.
Then there's a discussion about exercise. One guy makes reference to something --a poster? I didn't catch it. But he says, "I love that. They show you how much you can't do anymore." Everybody laughs.
The old lady packs up her trash, puts on her coat, and heads for the door. I try to watch to see if she gets into a car, but I'm still sitting and I lose sight of her pretty quickly.
I don't think I'll ever forget her, though.
