Slowing down the Quiktrip

Since returning to the United States, many habits and patterns have returned. One of those is my morning “pop” (i.e. Diet Coca-Cola — or Coca-Cola Light in Europe). Like the Italian morning espresso, my morning drink gives me a good dose of caffeine to start the day; the difference is that my caffeine usually comes in at least 10 times the amount of liquid as the Italian version. On most mornings, I get my drink at a convenience store between my house and my parents’ office. This convenience store, Quiktrip, is notorious for its speedy registers and friendly employees. Like my morning wave to my baker in Florence as I walked by his shop, Quiktrip is a part of my routine when I live in Iowa.

Tuesday morning I was distracted. My mind was racing in different directions as I tried to coordinate airplane tickets, essays I was working on and phone calls that I needed to make. My Quiktrip run was just one more thing I needed to check off of my to-do list. Going into the store I made my way to the fountain drinks and impatiently waited for the liquid to reach the lip of the cup. Turning around to grab a lid and straw I almost bumped into an older man. His looking up and smiling at me was what jolted me out of my frenzied state. I paid for my drink and went out to the car and sat while it warmed up. The 28 degree (Fahrenheit!) windy weather had made it through my coat and drinking my cold drink at the same time was making me wish I had left the car warming when I went into the store.

Then I saw him. The older man I’d almost bumped into was walking out. Something caught my eye as I watched him walk in front of the parked cars. What was his story? Looking at strangers I often try to figure out a story and this man’s was no exception. He was in his early 60s and had an unkept beard and was wearing a brown light hunting coat over a charcoal hooded sweatshirt. At first I thought he was a nearby resident. He made his way with a steady but unhurried gate past the cars and into the adjoining street.

Carrying a refillable coffee mug and a sack filled with two Krispy Kreme donuts, I knew he had to be a regular of the store. What was it, though, that made him stand out? Waking up from the moment, I realized that the car was warm and I should probably head back to the office. Doing so would have been a travesty to the process I was in.

The man made his way across the street and walked towards the railroad tracks 30 yards away. Was he homeless? He wasn’t walking fast enough to make me think he was cold or unused to the weather. Where was he going?

He walked past every house he might have lived in and made his way onto the railroad tracks. Still unhurriedly, he made his way along the tracks towards the river. I lost sight of him when he crossed through the levy gates that close off the rail line in the event of a flood.

There is a good chance I will never know his story. He may have been a homeless man living off of the river embankment. He may have been a worker who worked on the other side of the levy and was just taking a shortcut. He may simply have been a guy who was scoping out an area to hunt in. Something about him, whether it was his look, his pace or his smile in the store, made me stop and shut-out the fast pace of my day. Something … caused me to mentally return to the moment every time I went into the store later in the week. What else will cause the changes in the coming months?