From his tee shirt and torn jeans she thought he might be a student, but if you added a jacket or sweater, maybe a plaid shirt, he could easily be a professor. It was the shaggy hair and scruffy beard, the dark rimmed glasses, that made it hard to decide.
What she did know from the few times she'd brought him his coffee (two creams, please) and two plain donuts was that he was polite, soft-spoken and shy. And friendly. He had a smile that made her feel like he was tuned into her wavelength. He was also a generous tipper. She felt like he must have been in her position before--taking orders and bringing food to people who weren't always appreciative. She wished more of her customers were like him.
He never seemed to be in a hurry, but he never lingered past his second cup of coffee. She wished he would some time. She wanted to follow him, to see how he spent the rest of his day...to see if he was really as nice as he seemed. A sad statement about the times we live in, she thought,when the kindness of strangers qualifies as the Mystery of the Day.
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