The Strange Man Who Sat Next to Me This Morning

I sat down at Starbucks this morning at 5:30. There was no other person around. It didn't take long, however, for the "serge" to happen. People, like me, needed their fix. They needed the bean juice to get their day comfortable and controllable - like yesterday.

As the people came pouring in, I had to put my headphones in my ears to concentrate. Voices, laughs, phone calls, and other types of communication rang throughout the store. It was loud. People were being people, communal, and relational. At times, I just sat and watched.

It was interesting to see how normal this was for everyone. They were all dressed for work. Some had sleep in their eyes. Some, their hair still wet. But this is normal for the morning - normal for people in the morning. The day needs starting. Coffee please.

Something was abnormal though. And he sat right next to me.

He was not normal. He was, in every sense of the word, strange. There were many chairs in the store. He chose the one across from me (its a big table with many chairs). He sat, with his hot tea, and watched.

He wore all black. His hair was wet, but it didn't look like "shower-wet." It looked more like "rain-wet." Only it hasn't rained in Minneapolis in weeks. Like I said, he was strange.

His glasses were thicker than normal. It looked as if he fixed them on the end of his nose; only, it was probably because they ran down their anyway. Why fight the inevitable?

His teeth were also strange. I never saw them, but only the way they made his mouth bulge.

He was truly unlike the other hundred people (or so) who walked in this store. Not only did he look different, he didn't communicate. He talked to no one but himself - at least for a moment. The movement of his mouth was enough to make me look up from my book.

His presence made me feel uneasy. I immediately looked at all of my possessions - my watch, my pens, my coffee cup, and my books. I made sure they were not in his space. I made room for him. But my motive was not so noble.

As I read about pastoring, I was convicted that this man sat next to me while I was completely uncommunicable. I had headphones in (is it ok to end that sentence with a preposition?). I was looking down, reading. I was less than inviting. So I took my headphones out in an effort to be more accessible.

Thirty minutes later, no words from this man. No words from me to this man. As he rose from his seat, I noticed his hand was deformed; curved under as if he was pointing toward his own elbow. And he walked with a noticeable limp. He was also noticeably alone.

This was probably common for him. He was probably used to talking to no one.

I wonder why he came to starbucks to sit so long. Why did he look so intently at others? Why did he come to a place where hundreds of people walked in and out, talking, drinking...relating?

Why did he sit across from me?

Why didn't I say anything to him?

I had just read about Christ touching a leper. But I didn't communicate anything at all to the obvious outcast who sat across from me.

By grace, never again.