Social Interactions

Today after school I got a cup of coffee at Floyd's. I wanted to sit and zone and check email and be in my head, but around some other people. The end of the school year is rough. I'm done, the kids are done, and we all still have so much work to do, and it's not over.

But there's this old guy at Floyd's today, he wants to chat. He's on the couch, I sit in an armchair nearby with my coffee. He ruminates about how important coffee is to this nation. I nod and smile--he's right. He says, "Where would we be without coffee? I say, "Asleep. I'd be asleep." Then he starts telling me about how his dad's parents came from Norway--I say, "My dad's parents too." He keeps talking then he says he forgot the story he was going to tell me. The guy in the other armchair moves to a nearby table. I get out my computer and open it, shutting him out. I'm not unfriendly, but I'm not friendly. A little while later, he leaves.

No conclusions. Still thinking about it. Lots of thoughts. Thoughts about Portland vs. Brooklyn and how much less I interact with strangers. Thoughts about generational interactions and how those are also much more rare these days--I have very few people in my daily life who are older than my mother, and not many people in my daily life who are her age. Thoughts about choosing my computer over hearing his story, as much of it as he could remember. Thoughts about loneliness.

Also thinking about how many of my interactions with strangers happened on the subway in New York, on the buses, on the street. I am an interactor. I welcome the interactions and they come to me. But it happens less here. And it wasn't sustainable there.

Like I said, lots of thoughts.