The other day I wandered down to Westboro to pick up a loaf of bread from Mamie Clafoutis. I can’t express to you how happy that made me — the mere act of walking down the street on a sunny day to buy something so simple and lovely as a fresh loaf of bread put a smile on my face.
As I approached the front door I donned my favourite mask and scanned for signage. It’s strange to think how much my train of thought has changed for such a simple thing as opening the door to a shop I’ve been in dozens of times: Only four customers allowed inside at a time, okaaay, but that means I need to open the door and step over the threshold (a BIT, not TOO MUCH) and do a head count. Hmm. So there’s one guy over here, a married couple over there. Couldn’t one of them have waited outside? Ok, so that’s three and I am the fourth so I think I can proceed, oops, I better keep my distance from the guy in front of me…!
I ordered my loaf while drinking in the view of all of the gorgeous treats in the display case but didn’t buy anything else. I paid up (are you taking cash now?) and made my way along the one way exit route that all customers must travel to leave the shop through a different set of doors. My eyes scanned the upturned chairs and cordoned off tables. In pre-COVID times I rarely came here to linger with a coffee and a pastry but I suddenly missed it very much, not just the act of eating a pastry with a friend or a loved one or even alone in a bustling cafe, but having the option to do it in the first place.
As I neared the door I realized I’d caught up to the couple ahead of me. They’d taken some extra time to doctor their coffees with cream and sugar and stood at the exit door. When I finally approached he was out on the sidewalk and she was closer to the door, and consequently, to me. She held the door open for me to walk through. It happened so quickly I almost missed it. For a moment we were closer than the prescribed 2m guideline! She touched something and then I touched it! I said thank you and she said you’re welcome! And then we all went on our way.
It seems silly to recount here, but I honestly don’t remember the last time I’d had this kind of exchange, one that involved shared air/space/place/time with a total stranger in my own neighbourhood. I’ve missed it very much.
