“Bella”! “How you been?” He kept a running conversation while remembering every little nuance of customer orders. I took the Daily News from below the counter and put two dollars down to pay for my coffee and paper. “Fine”, I responded. His knarly hands clasped mine passing me the coffee in the same instant. “You look wonderful”! Ha--ha, he laughed, “Old faces don’t go away”.

The Coffee Guy has been a part of my daily routine for more than ten years. His face is indelibly marked in my memory, and he remembers my milk with one and a half sugars even after I’ve been away for awhile.

Memories are peculiar. I remember an individual from over 20 years ago who walked with a street strut. One day, as I hurried back to work, I saw that walk ahead of me. It was sort of a sloping gait – sure-footed and nonsensical. As I caught up with him at the corner where he was waiting to cross the street, I saw his face. I doubt he remembered me. I didn’t stare, but I saw that he was still a chain smoker 20-something years later. His head and shoulders had the same look of being beaten, only now older and grayer.

My coffee guy was right, old faces don’t go away.  They just resurface.

Wishing you CWW Career-Wise Ways...!

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