To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee, One clover, and a bee, And revery.
The revery alone will do, If bees are few.
--Emily Dickinson

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Does this happen to other people?

So there I am in a coffee house. My Ipod is on. My large peppermint tea is by my side. My computer is humming away ready for the words I'm about to spew into it. In short, it's a perfect creative moment. The husband has taken my beloved children on an adventure in order to give me some treasured solitude. I'm doing something that I rarely do -- I'm relaxing. And then the smell hits. At first it assaults my senses like some elderly woman's overpowering perfume. And then the coughing starts. I can hardly breathe. Did I mention that I was minding my own business? Then a gentlemen leans in towards me and confesses that he "accidentally" sprayed a little bit of pepper spray and I'd better go outside. Are you kidding me! He was nice. He was apologetic. He even offered to buy me an overly-priced coffee drink. And I smiled and told him it was okay. I just wanted him to go away. And eventually he drove off, clutching his own overly-priced drink in his hand. But in my head, okay and here, I'm calling him a freakin' idiot! I mean, who does that? Who sprays pepper spray, even if it's just to "test" it, inside a Starbucks? So my perfect moment is broken, by pepper spray of all things. I packed up and headed home. After a time my eyes stopped watering. Is there a lesson here? I think so. Perhaps there's no such thing as a perfect creative moment.

3 comments:

  1. Scheffie, great opening. That guy shouldn't be allowed to own blunt scissors. I could see how pepper spray could ruin the moment. Try again from somewhere other than there or Chuckie Cheese. Good luck.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hang in there. Maybe Pepper Guy will spray his wife and she will retaliate with a golf club. Awaiting your next post. Bears? Hawks? Weather change?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow. Um, what a jackass. Maybe should have said, "Yes, thank you. I WILL take your overly priced coffee drink and now, if you please, just hand over that pepper spray. You are obviously not qualified to use it."

    ReplyDelete