Thursday, March 25, 2010

Alone. At a Cafe. Doing nothing.

There is an old man sitting in front of me at Diletto (my cafe/office). He is all alone, drinking a glass of red wine and eating chips. Mostly he's staring out at nothing in particular. Maybe he had a fight with his wife or is in Bogota for a business trip and doesn't know anyone. Except he's wearing khakis and one of those safari-tourist jacket-shirts, definitely not Bogota work attire. So maybe he's foreign. And the fact that he's alone is a big foreigner indication. I don't think Colombians are all that fond of doing things alone. I always feel so sad when I see people eating/drinking alone.

And then I remember that I am here alone almost everyday and don't feel sorry for myself. Well, at least not most of the time. And I would not like it if other people felt sorry for me. But at least I'm doing work. This poor guy doesn't even have a book or newspaper. I don't think I'm the kind of person who can go to a restaurant and cafe with no computer, no book and no company. I prefer to do my thinking while moving. I'm not sure if this preference is because of efficiency (exercise and thinking in one) or because the act of doing something physical doesn't let me concentrate 100% on what I should be thinking about. If you're sitting still, you really have no choice.

Man, khaki pants has his head in his hand and is looking particularly meloncholy. It's a very sad scene. An old man with glasses and a white beard sitting in a big leather chair drinking red wine from a gigantic wine goblet.

Good news: His girlfriend just arrived. Now he looks happy. I assume it's his girlfriend and not his wife because they look happy to see each other. Now it's just me and the fat, six-foot tall gringo sitting alone.

4 comments:

  1. Wife or lover I am relieved that the end of this story is happy, you had me almost in tears until I reached the end.

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  2. go talk to the fat, six-foot tall gringo! or at least make up a story about him for us. I wonder if everyone there is blogging about everyone else in their reports for back home... what would they say/guess about you?

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  3. I think you should go talk to the tall gringo... lol and i love the ending to the blog story - it made my day!

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  4. Tall Gringo looked to be pushing 60. So do not get your hopes up about a romance.

    As for what people would think of me, I don't know...I go about 4-5 times a week, sit alone in front of my computer and don't talk to anyone for five or six hours. But I bet the workers think I'm one of their best clients.

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