The kitchen Table

People are fascinating; especially when there is food involved. This morning is a pleasant spring morning that just shouts an invitation to enjoy the outdoors. I am waiting for a friend and sitting on a stone planter outside a popular centrally-located diner that draws an amazingly varied clientele. As some of you that know me well may already surmise, I’m happily engaged in one of my favorite activities—people watching.
I find it fascinating to just simply watch folks; especially when they are enjoying themselves. I know that malls are prime areas but I have a real aversion to them because of my phobia for shopping. Airports are good people watching spots but few people seem to be happy in airports post 9/11. That leaves restaurants as a prime spot for my hopefully unobtrusive people watching reconnaissance missions.
This morning is a delight and the folks are especially fascinating. An older gentleman in polyester slacks saunters past with his ornate cane providing reassuring stability. Many of the folks are senior citizens and I realize that the absence of many younger folks may indicate their aversion to early morning hours. Several buttoned down professional looking men scurry by; all intent on their Blackberries. They all somehow navigate successfully without obviously glancing ahead and it’s apparent that they’ve multitasked this way before. A young lass leaving the restaurant is enraptured with her little stuffed animal that probably cost her adoring grandparents many quarters in “The Claw” machine. A gentleman sporting a heavy gold chain necklace and a carefully coiffured black perm partially masking his shiny scalp makes his way past me. He seems interested in whether anyone notices him in his muscle shirt displaying a slightly sagging physique. Next comes some impeccably made up middle aged ladies chattering like school girls about a “one day only sale.”
Soon, it’s time to move inside. As I survey the crowded tables and booths and absorb the bustle of the restaurant, I feel warm deep inside. Even the single gentleman buried in his newspaper seems to be content in his own way. Almost everyone else is chatting and the waitresses—especially the one that reminds me of TV’s “Flo”—seem intent on cheering the lonely widowers and such. I guess it’s a slight sense of family and friends that comes out of this atmosphere. Yes, it is wonderful being in someone’s commercial establishment. I still smile slightly when I think of Norm and Cliff bantering on the old TV favorite “Cheers.” However, I realize how it pales compared to the precious times when you’re invited into the private living room or parlor (as some more formal folks call it) of a home. For true intimacy there’s nothing like being invited to be part of a family gathering around a kitchen table. I am all in favor of banquets but nothing compares to being in that select number of folks offered a precious spot at the kitchen table. That is where folks connect on truly important heart matters. How about taking a dessert or pot of soup over to grace some lonely person’s kitchen table or inviting them to yours? By the way; the food is optional.