Once again this morning I promptly arose from my overnight lair at 8:30 am.  This early morning repeat activity has become a ritual only of late as I prepare to address various outstanding coincidental and planned commitments or undertakings, all of which have thankfully concluded as of today. Until today the focus has been upon fulfilling whatever might arise or possibly be required of a general nature before we abandon our roost for a barrier island along the North Atlantic coast.

This morning’s scheduled conference at the apartment, involving the building superintendent, a senior delegate of the building owner and a representative of the manufacturer of the heat pump in question, was beyond my useful contribution and mechanical capacity.  Accordingly I dismissed myself from the anticipated congregation; and, instead drove my car to the city for pure diversion until the commotion of the meeting had settled.

My immediate objective was Starbucks coffee shop in Bell Corners where I knew from experience I could get a powerful double espresso; and, that there was a handicap parking space close to the entrance.  Nor was I defeated in either of these two ambitions.

Immediately upon entering the coffee shop, having availed myself of the handicap parking space, I went to the counter (where no one stood before me other than the clerk behind the counter) and placed my order for a double espresso.  The young clerk had that gentle circumspection of me (an old fogey) as I struggled to activate and adapt my “Wallet” App on my iPhone to pay by credit card for my $3.25 charge.  I mistakenly covered my view of the payment terminal while intending to navigate the process.  The clerk, preserving her patience with my ineptitude, cautiously directed me to completion.  I apologized for having concluded the payment without a gratuity but she unhesitatingly dismissed the oversight.

I then proceeded to the end of the counter in search of a seat.  The entire place was busy.  All the highchairs at the window counter where customarily we have seated ourselves were taken. I avoided a vacant table at another window because it was bordered by two other tables, one of which was occupied by two young folks (a man and a woman), the other was crowded with more people than suitable (a number of chatty young women).  As a result, while I awaited my double espresso at the end of the counter, I opted to sit in a nearby lounge chair on the wall adjacent another chap in a similar chair who was on his smartphone talking volubly with one whom I presumed was a business connection judging by the character of the few words I overhead and was capable of distinguishing.

Seconds after I plopped into the cushy lounge chair, I heard the call for delivery of my coffee. I struggled to lift myself from the low couch and hobbled with my stick to the counter where the same clerk as before nodded and sympathetically proffered to me my cup of coffee.  It was a small styrofoam cup suitable for an espresso. When I subsequently positioned myself at the table between the two already mentioned, I noted that the cup was in duplicate (presumably to shield the heat of the unadulterated espresso). While absorbing the coffee and listening to the conversation of the couple on my right, I was particularly attracted to the women on my left. They were outfitted in what I understand to be a Muslim head scarf or hijab. In spite of that contradiction of popular apparel for young women they were otherwise distinctive of the sex and age, vigorous exchanges with one another while attending to preoccupation on their iPhone.

When my partner’s telephone call sounded on my iPhone in the breast pocket of my Patagonia jersey, I naturally answered but had troubling hearing what he said particularly as he was similarly overcome by the blast of noises which surrounded me at the shop. We did however succeed to get the message across; namely, that the building owner’s team had attended and I was free to return at my convenience.

I sat at the small table, looking out the picture window onto the parking lot. As I sipped my espresso from the small cup(s) I feigned useful preoccupation by puttering upon my iPhone.  I soon deserted the pretence and proceeded to eject myself from the wooden seat. It is clearly one of the advantages of espresso that one needn’t linger upon its consumption.  Nonetheless it equally afforded me the buzz I adore from the concoction.

After transferring through the two handicap–assisted doors to the outside I regained the comfort of my automobile and headed home.  The roads were predominantly dry. My first stop along the way in Bells Corners was the Petro-Canada car wash.  I had already filled the gas tank at the station in Stittsville where I am assured that the pumps enable usage of the Petro-Canada App on the iPhone for payment. The wash duty being thus completed, I contented myself to enjoy the ride back unperturbed, first along the highway, then the Appleton Side Road.