ear to the ground

i'm sitting in panera on their free wifi. i've made a habit of coming here during my one-hour lunch break every day, ordering the "you pick two" (i usually get french onion soup and the mediterranean veggie sandwich) and an iced green tea, and then sitting on my computer while i eat my lunch. yesterday i was lucky enough to catch my sister, solange, online while i was here. as we were chatting through gmail chat, she suggested that we both log into skype so that we can have an audio conversation. "but i don't have my headphones," i protested. she pushed me, "so? you don't need them." i finally gave in. so for the next fifteen minutes or so (during panera's peak hours, i might add), i spoke to my computer, laughing and giggling, as all the other panera patrons stared at me with concern. the volume on my computer was turned all the way up, but it was so loud in the restaurant that i still found myself having to lean over with my ear to the keyboard in order to hear her. i felt like a native american listening for the buffalo herd....or a caterpillar listening for the ant herd.

today i brought my headphones, but solange wasn't online.