aric with an a

‘how ya doin’?’

‘good, thanks. you?’

‘fine, thank you’.

that’s usually how it goes. it might even end after that second line. people say ‘hello’ and instinctively ask the same back. this isn’t a process that is obscure to anyone.

it’s basically obligatory.

and I like that.

but today, while eating lunch with my Dad, I got up to get him some ketchup.

not for me, for him - I hate the stuff.

I stood behind a man in orange talking to a couple in the line adjacent.

they exchanged the formalities mentioned.

and that was nice - I liked that.

but it didn’t stop there.

as most understand the understated end to that greeting[s].

but neither had the heart to be the last one to talk.

to end a sentence without a question mark.

they probably weren’t really interested in the details,

maybe they were.

but what they wouldn’t have is the silence that follows the silent end to a new conversation.

and so the questions kept coming.

the weather, the food, the Cowboys season and the coupons Chic-Fil-A offered.

and they stretched it out until both cashiers took both their orders.

and then said ‘thanks’, they said ‘goodbye’ and I heard one ‘much obliged’.

it was more important for them to not let the niceties drift off,

than to focus on their own things,

what they needed to order,

their own lives,

and the lives of those in theirs.

and I liked that.

I liked that very, very much.