Thursday, March 23, 2006

The Perch

I play at a sandwich shop in Plano called Potbelly. I play up on what I like to the call "the perch". I climb up a little ladder and I sing up there for a couple of hours a few days a week during lunch.
Since I'm up away from the people, I have very little interaction with anyone during my two hours of singing. But I watch...
You can tell so much about people and how they probably live their lives by watching them from that perch!
Almost every day there is a couple that I would guess is in their 60's that come in. This is their ritual:
He drops her off at the door and she grabs a table while he first parks, and then comes in and waits in line to get their sandwiches. They always read a USA today...and she always works the crossword. They stay about 45 minutes and then they walk out, holding hands. But before they leave, they always make a point of saying "hi" to me and giving me a wave, or occasionally the man gives me a thumbs (way) up. This is BIG STUFF in my book. Most people don't acknowledge me at all. These people are friendly: friendly to me, sweet to each other, and they're giving out smiles left and right to people around them. Especially the man. The woman is the quiet one, I think.
So today I walked by their table after I finished my set and I said hello to them. He gave me a very friendly "Well hello there!!!" Then I asked him, "Are you always in a good mood?"
And here is what he said:
"Well, yeah!!! Look at who I get to spend all of my days with!" (as he, of course, points to his wife) He goes on to tell me that they laugh all day long. They've known each other since they were 15, and they've been married for 43 years. He said she's, "the easiest person in the world to get along with". I asked her if he was also so easy to live with and she said yes!
None of this shocked me, although I know how rare this kind of thing is. My view from the perch told me all of this, more or less, long before we happened to have this conversation today.
I love my gig at Potbelly. I love that perch! And I love watching...

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