Human sunspots

I’m writing in a cafe right now and it’s one I don’t often frequent. The barrista is one of those amazingly gregarious people who don’t meet strangers and launch into conversation at the drop of a hat. Shortly after I got down to work, a guy in a motorized wheelchair came in, and they chatted and laughed for about 10 minutes. The guy is now using his laptop…he’s wearing headphones and listening to something. From time-to-time, he looks at the screen, moving in so close that his nose pretty much makes contact with the screen.

Sigh.

Unfair, you know, but the technology does compensate on some levels. I played with some of the buried accessibility features of Windows once because my father was having trouble identifying the icons on his computer screen. There’s actually quite a bit there, which is nice.

Anyway, the barrista went into the back room, to recharge her battery no doubt. There need to be more people like that, who put their neck on the line to make others feel welcome and good.