The other morning, I drove down to the tire place with my sister to get winter tires put on her car. 'Tis the season. Traffic was backed up both ways on the main artery we crossed. We had freezing rain this morning and the roads were deadly - must have been accidents everywhere during rush hour.
The tire center is in the industrial area in the tire land of OK Tires, Tirecraft, KalTire, Tire Warehouse, and Fountain Tire. Like a shining beacon among all that's rubber stands a Tim Horton's (Canada's coffee and doughnut mecca). We dropped off the car, walked across the street for some caffeine and sat down to wait out the hour. The man across from us was eating a muffin and wearing a black ball cap adorned with the puffy Michelin Tire man waving hello.
Tim's is always busy in the mornings, so it's not a bad place to watch people come and go. One gray-haired man sat next to us at a table for four. Ten minutes later, three other gray-haired men were sitting with him. It was a full-on senior's gang. And what else is there to do when you're sitting in a coffee shop in tire land but eavesdrop?
#1 to #4, "How's Ted this morning?"
Ted: "I'm fine."
"Blood pressure good?"
No answer.
Pause...
"Hell of a hockey game last night."
Sometimes I lost track of what the gang was talking about except for snippets.
"...and I said to the wife, I said, Holy Shit..."
"...well he's been in jail for awhile..."
"...goddamm referees are just as bad as Detroit..."
This gang also had impressive neighborhood connections. A Parker Posey in 'Waiting for Guffman' look-alike walked in with her boyfriend and waved hi to them before getting into line. A young guy walked in, waved hello. An older guy walked in, waved. One man at the table left. Another older man came in and sat down. It was the church of Tim's.
"...you're entitled to that. I thought maybe you'd know about that..."
"...Try saying diesel."
"Die-sel..."
Someone stands up to leave. Church is over for another morning.
"...Have a good weekend. Don't wake anybody up..."
