what's up with my friends not answering their phone?

As I sit here in Starbucks, I hear this song over my head playing in it’s warm, muggy tone saying: “Jesus was sailor when he walked upon the water… He was broken before the sky was opened…”

I find it interesting that Starbucks, a Mecca for today’s culture, plays this song. Not really surprising, just interesting because although Jesus was controversial, society doesn’t seem to reject him as a person. I’m not saying that they accept all that he was, but just that there’s not contempt for him like there is for televangelists. I hear no songs about Muhammad, Mother Teresa, or Ghandi. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying that this means much at all. I just find it interesting. Greater still is that this song was followed by Sarah McLachlan’s ‘Ice cream” (does it get better than her?)

There’s a bit more about this that I would like to say, but I only want to produce original thoughts here and so will leave it at that.

Sitting in this very seat last night, I came here to read, drink coffee, and just be. All of my attempts to meet up with my old Orlando friends failed (i.e. they didn’t answer their phone when I called) so I ended up here. Just as good a place as any, I suppose.

Shortly after I got here, I ran into a guy that I have crossed paths with far more often than is common for this semi-large town. When I worked for Barnes & Noble 7 years ago, he was a café regular. When I worked for Starbucks thereafter, his caffeine addiction thrived. And when I worked for Banana Republic, that’s right, he frequented there as well.

So, last night, we got to know each other not as server/customer relationships are bound, but as two coffee-loving strangers ready to talk. I found out that he’s preparing for residency in internal medicine and that he’s passed two of the three board tests needed for practicing medicine (if I understand him correctly.)

He lit up when he talked about his family and home country of Syria – about his recent visit there and how it rejuvenated him. We come from vastly different backgrounds and yet we seem to see people and life very similar.

It was a suprisingly delightful evening. I’m glad nobody answered my phone calls.