Sunday morning starts off with me standing in line at Starbucks.
The person standing in front of me is this offbeat character of the local neighborhood. He sells flowers by walking up down a highway holding bunches of bouquets in his arms. He does this daily during rush hour hoping that someone stopping at the traffic light will purchase one.
He has been doing this for years; never once have I seen him make a sale. Never once have I seen him hand a single flower to anyone. But there he is, five days a week walking up and down the street, arms filled with flowers. Dressed in his flower selling uniform...a Michael Jordan baseball cap with the hat-brim twist to the side of his head. On his feet are new bright white Jordan high top shoes, Jordan T-shirt and Jordan shorts….he must be the envy of every boy in the ninth grade. There he is Monday through Friday: a walking advertisement for everything Michael Jordan. This flower-carrying-Michael-Jordan-hipster does not fit the part; he has to be in his late fifties.
Until I stood behind him in line waiting to order my coffee.
The coffee barista greeted him as a regular already knowing his order. He adds a toasted plain bagel to mix things up. They both smile and giggle about him changing up his daily routine. She asks him where he has been running and he lists off about four or five different 5k’s that he’s run in the past couple of days.
It seems when he is not selling flowers on the highway he spends his time driving to different neighborhoods participating in the local 5k. Today he would be driving about an hour outside the city to run in a charity race. Then he would be surprising his daughter with a drop in visit, something he does rarely.
He grabs his coffee and bagel, next he yells out good morning to the barista behind the counter making the fancy drinks. They smile and yell back “good morning MJ” and out the door MJ walks.
Things you can learn standing in line waiting to order your coffee.
