At the Bagel's Place

When I have time and don’t have any schedule early in the morning, I usually drive to Jollibee to buy some breakfast meal and have coffee. One early morning, as I was driving to go to this Jollibee place where I frequent to have breakfast, I spotted a small “bagel’s place store” at a corner of a main street, near the Jollibee place. For whatever reason, I just decided to try it out for a change and have my breakfast at this bagel’s place that morning. When I entered the place, I saw two guys chatting at a corner, enjoying their coffee. There was a big table strewn across the place. An elderly woman was sitting at the end corner, sipping her coffee, and chatting with another elderly lady who was eating her breakfast at the other end of the table. An African-American man, in his mid- thirties, was luxuriously eating his bagel at the middle of the table, with his daughter (who was maybe six or seven years old). There was another guy who was also seated at the table, sipping his coffee, and writing something on his calendar. When I went in, they all looked up as if surprised—and said, “good morning!” I said “good morning,” too, in response. I ordered a bagel with cream cheese and a coffee. I sat down at the table to eat my breakfast with the rest of the people. As I was eating my breakfast, I could hear this conversation from these people from the table. They seemed to know one another. They were calling each other by name. There was a lively conversation at the table about almost everything—on the status of the economy to the latest buzz in town. I was smiling to myself as I was intently listening to their conversations. After a while, some of the guys left, then the others. I had to leave too because I had to do something that morning.

You think the story ended there. No. The next morning, I went again to the same bagel’s place to have breakfast. To my surprise, it was the same fixture of people whom I saw there. The two men conversing at the corner, the two elderly lady who were conversing at the table, the African-American man with his daughter, and the guy who was sipping his coffee and writing on his calendar. It was like a small town, all-in-one in this small bagel’s place. At this bagel’s place, you hear the latest news on the economy, the latest buzz in town, and everything what’s going in the life of every American. I was really amused and entertained. I have been going to that place almost everyday, for almost two weeks now. I see the same faces, hear the same conversations, enjoy my breakfast like the rest. Know what? I enjoyed the company of these people. I don’t know any of them but I felt a certain sense of belongingness and community. Here I found the souls of ordinary people, who just want to live ordinary lives and not get caught up with the web of lies and intricacies of the world. Think of a place where you can sometimes escape? This was for me one of those places.