"Ahem!"

Just dropping by to tell you of something that just happened, here at Timothy’s [a coffee shop].
For once, a coffee place is playing the right kind of music. Classical. And I mean the good stuff, the adagios. Intermingled with solo piano-music, nice and relaxing. It’s a great reading atmosphere, and so that’s what I am doing… voraciously reading Ken Follett’s new World Without End.
I’m at page 307. → Just 707 to go.
It’s a terrific book, long awaited, by me. Actually, I think this is the first time I have ever read an Oprah book while it was still a current Oprah© Book.
I am not even sure if it is the current one, but if not, it is at least one of her very recent picks.
So I’m sitting in this peaceful chair when in walk these two middle-aged ladies with their gym bags and rolled-up exercise mats. And they sit down with their coffees not four feet away from me, sort of invading my sanctuary a bit with their immediate and incessant babble!
And so mundane!
Here they are talking about every TV show that has ever existed, and how the one lady is going to get someone to tape upcoming segments of some show while she is on holidays in Punta Cana and blah-blah-blah… it is driving me nuts because now I can’t concentrate on my book and I am longing for the former soothing sounds of The Death of Ase by Grieg that had so recently been wafting through here….

Then they start talking about books.

And instantly the one that is going to Punta Cana is raving about how she just finished World Without End. And how great it is! And how she liked Pillars of the Earth better, but, but, but…. “The way this thing ends is pretty good,” she starts saying and I’m over here thinking, “No, no, no…. please, I am READING it right now, do you not SEE this 40-pound book here?… please be quiet, please talk quieter ladies….” but no, she is talking even louder now, giving away all the parts of the book I have not yet gotten to and I honestly did not know what to do so I just cleared my throat with a big loud “Ahem!” and I held the book out between us so that they could see the spine and its wonderful gold capital letters!

They both laughed and morphed into these classic “Ooops! Sorry!” expressions and I laughed too, and morphed into this “Not like I was eavesdropping or anything” expression, and we exchanged a few repentances and absolutions and they changed their book topic to high-school Beowulf experiences, if you can believe it.
It was a little humorous moment in my day and really, as I think of it, I can only come to one conclusion.
Lots of people read Oprah© Books!

**********