In Plain View - Leonard Woolsey

A long line of customers dressed in t-shirts and cover-ups wrap out the door and along the short bank of windows of the beachside café.

 

Inside, two men, separated by several decades, are sharing much more than a cup of coffee over breakfast.

 

“Can I get you gentleman anything else?”

 

The waitress, tall and energetic, smiles as she pours a refill of coffee.

 

The older man, dressed in a black beret and two diamond earrings, sips coffee from his cup. Gray hair lightly tints the sides of his dark hair and skin.

 

As the waitress moves to the next table the younger man’s posture, attentive and respectful, leans forward. He is athletic, dressed in an oversized basketball jersey, long shorts and basketball shoes.

 

The older man is talking – not preaching.

 

“You can always get more money,” he said. “And you can always get a job. But remember, you can’t always get what is important to you in life.”

 

The relationship between the two is not evident – but the respect between them is obvious. One is the teacher – and the other the student. And although a small beachside café is not the traditional classroom, I can’t help be moved by their relationship. At the table beside me is a moment too rare in the world today – someone taking the time to teach another without the tool of intimidation. No harsh words, no loud words. The strongest element in the conversation is the passion of what the older man is sharing with his breakfast partner.

 

Money is temporary in nature. What the older man is trying to share is what a lifetime of experience revealed to him – that money is transient. You get money. You spend money. Need more? Odds are you’ll find a way either through a bank or your brother.

 

As for a job, the world is full of them. Some we like, others we don’t want to do for any amount of money. The point he’s driving home is that jobs, like money, are transient in nature also. What he wants the young man to understand is there is so much more to life than the happiness a job and money can provide.

 

The older man’s worlds, “you can’t always get what is important to you in life” I find haunting. As I find my life continuing to move down the tracks of time I’ve found my values of what is truly important in life silently – and without fanfare – changing in the background. At the age of the young man sitting across for the older man that morning I’ll admit I valued both money and a job highly. But today I know my youth didn’t know what the world had in store for me. Never could I have imagined the life-changing experiences given to me by those around me. Family and friends are, without a doubt, the meat and potatoes of life. No amount of money or job satisfaction could ever compare to love and friendship I’ve learned to value as time goes forward. The blessings of life are divine and cannot be purchased with cash or earned by working for a couple weeks.

 

The waitress returned and placed the check on our table. The crowd outside dwindled as the lunch hour approached. The two men, still sharing breakfast, remained after I left the diner. What I hope is the words of experience were not lost in the translation of youth.

 

© 2007 – In Plain View – Leonard Woolsey