Unavailable Tables

I’m sitting in the La Plata Starbucks by myself. Normally when I’m there by myself I’m people watching, sometimes I chat with different people I know only from Starbucks and other times people from other venues of my life stop by and we babble for a while. The following is what I saw today.

I noticed two elderly well dress men, let’s call them the two business men, sitting in front of their computers. They were too far away for me to eavesdrop on their conversation and that’s the case for all involved. Through out this little story I will add some narrative to move the tale along. They looked like they were having an enjoyable chat, when one of them got up for some napkins and noticed a more suited corner table for their interlude. He came back to get his friend and they proceeded to pick up their gear and move to the corner spot. By the time they turned toward the new table, it was taken, so they sat back down and set up again.

The people that took the corner table were two attractive ladies, they seemed to be a mother and daughter couple, so for the purpose of this little yarn we’ll say they were. A few moments later their third party arrived and stood in front of them. He looked to be another business man type. He looked around searching for a better spot for their rendezvous and noticed an empty table across the room. He walked over to that table as the ladies picked up their possessions and followed him to it. That was the ladies second table.

A few moments later one of the first two business men stood up and saw the corner table was open, so they picked up their stuff and moved there, seemingly happy with their new spot they continued to smile and chat.

When the mother, daughter and business man saw the two business men move, they in turn grabbed all their paraphernalia and moved to the smaller table for what seemed to be a better choice for them. However it still wasn’t convenient to an electric outlet. This was the third spot for the lovely ladies. A few minutes later a table with an electric outlet right next to it became available and they moved there. This made the fourth local for the ladies. I heard the man say, “The music is too loud”.

Quickly the daughter said, “We’re not moving again”. At that point, I laughed out loud.

I couldn’t help but get up and tell everyone involved what I just watched. We all laughed and as I was walking back to my vantage point I thought, I might not ever see any of them again but it was nice to be a part of that little bit of nothing that only I saw.