The Girl Who Learned To Kneel

All you have to do is go outside and talk to someone and the world suddenly expands. What drives THAT person? Like for example, Steve. The little Japanese man who started talking to me at the election party. Steve negotiated with Sadam Hussein for the release of Japanese hostages. And now he sits talking to me at Back to the Grind in Riverside, California. He cheers on Obama’s victory between intermittent recitations of death tolls from World War I onward. Isn’t life strange?

And who is the guy who sits across from me at Goodwins? With the big dark eyes. He shuffles his piles fastidiously, unpertubed by Elsie’s escalating grunts. I want to stare and then snoop through all the open windows on his desktop. That would be so revealing.

And then there’s Joe, who does stare. In fact, he comes right up to me and peers over my shoulder, “What are you working on today?” Computers excite him and he likes to talk the pros and cons of a MAC for at least twenty minutes. When I see him coming, I try to look really busy. I type furiously, but to no avail. He talks to me regardless. I seem to attract people who want to talk.

Oh, did I mention Robert? He’s our nextdoor neighbor (under and to the right of Dee, who incidentally is no longer ‘Josh and Dee’). Robert is a big guy with an even bigger beard. Today I decided we had ignored each other long enough. And guess what I found out? He’s a chemistry PhD. Um…I know this other science PhD. Do you want to be friends, Robert? I could make us mojitos and zucchini muffins and we could talk compounds? If you’re up for it. I’ve also invited Steven and Big Eyes. Joe was unavailable.