Pretty People

I stepped into the coffee shop today around two o'clock, stashed my things, and made some coffee (it's sort of what I do while I'm there). Before I had a chance to settle in to a routine, I made a large four shot carmel latte with a little bit of whipped cream for a gentleman in his thirties. I smiled, in a pretty good mood, took his money and handed him his change. We didn't trade small talk while I made his drink, he didn't appear out of the ordinary at all.

"Can I tip you?" he asked, and mildly surprised I nodded. I know you can't tip baristas in airport Starbucks. Maybe he thought it was like that, weirder assumptions about the island have been made.

He gave me a twenty, his drink cost $6.25, and he got a raisin cream scone at $2.40, for a grand total of $8.65. So, on the tile counter lay a dime, a quarter, a one and two fives, because I ran out of tens (like always).

"I don't usually do this, but you are a very beautiful woman" instead of picking up the change and the fives, leaving the one (as I expected) he left a five, and took the rest. I was equally surprised by his actions and his words. I stammered a "Thank you" and he left.

The sad part about this is that my first reaction was suspicion. My mind raced, trying to figure out how this could benefit him, what he wanted from me, but as his blonde hair disappeared out of the courtyard, I realized I just needed to accept the compliment. More people need to hear things like that, I think. I don't care if it is true, that's not the point. I felt good, because no matter what I thought, he thought I was beautiful. Or maybe he didn't, but he said he did.

Here's the thing. My basic beliefs about the world are pretty few, but among them is the belief that most people are ugly. I'm not not being pessimistic, I feel like I'm being realistic. Not everyone can be amazingly beautiful. Biology is gross, get over it. All people are mostly ugly, but we all have some beauty in us. We all do, and life is better when we take the time to stop and look for that small part of ourselves and others and that makes them beautiful. i have a hard time sometimes seeing the beautiful in people.