Bench Dispatch
April 11 2024
Russian guy with a mustache on the bench next to me spilled his milk-based espresso drink all over the sidewalk when I went back inside to get a lid for my water cup due to rain. I came back out and wondered if I had had something to do with the spill, made eye contact and did a bit of a shrug with my face, had I knocked it over myself? But by his lack of response I determined it must have been an unforced error.
Mary the barista was for the second day in a row crouched down behind the counter when I made my order (not implying that she had been down there for an entire day, it was probably a coincidence). Said she looked like she was hiding from a sniper. Think I annoyed her.
Stepped on the end of a power cord with my bare foot while I was leaving the house. A human foot stepping on the sharp plug end of a power cord, forever.
Had to move the car today and realized as I was leaving the house that I left something back upstairs so had to re-park at a hydrant and jog up there, bringing up two amazon packages in my arms as I went, also checking the amazon app to determine what was in them, on the fly, jingling keys, joggling phone screen.
Construction worker walking down the street singing at the TOP of his lungs in Spanish, wearing a hard hat shaped like a cowboy hat, or I guess really it was a cowboy hat made of hard hat material.
Guy with a backpack stuffed full of who knows what, all compartments, all sections, including two jam jars jammed into the outside stretch mesh pockets, both filled with an unidentified green liquid.
Update on Russian’s spilled coffee: Disappearing into the concrete. Where is it going? Concrete is not porous and the pour was not near the edge, and no cracks are in evidence.
Last night I threw out some produce that had gone bad, and as I pushed them down into the trash a diappointing smell wafted up. A few minutes later on the show I was half-watching, someone said “it’s like when you push something down into the trash and a bad smell comes out.” I don’t know what to make of that.
Flowers and plants in the stand across the street enduring a misty wilt before a likely coming bloom.