i got raspberry chai.

Check out Uncommon Grounds on Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis if you’re looking for an phenomenal place to study. It’s jazzy and Victorian at the same time, and if you sit by the window you can see city residents walking their dogs by the wrought iron fence and smoking cigarettes in the cold.

Elsie, Gwen, and I were sitting at one of the green velvet booths earlier today, working on finding articles and writing, when we noticed this couple sitting a few feet away. They were definitely on a first or second date; he in a nice plaid and she in a brown peacoat. We couldn't help but overhear their conversation since they were literally within reach. The couple approached the end of their time together, packed up and left, and we watched out the window as they ambled down the porch steps. He pulled her close in a slightly awkward hug and then they turned their separate ways on the sidewalk and walked away.

"She could do better than him," Gwen said right away.

"Agreed," I nodded.

"Did you hear what he was saying?!" Elsie raised an eyebrow. 

"Yeah. Seedy," Gwen nodded. 

Needless to say, most of his conversation was pretty unwholesome and the woman was constantly trying to accommodate his lack of taste and manners. We went back to our typing when all of a sudden the man came back into view, walked up the porch steps and back into the coffee shop. He hurriedly strode to the back of the store and went out the back door.

"What is he doing?" Elsie whispered.

"I don't know," I said, "Weird."

He didn't return so Gwen got up to go get another Zoom (coffee with a shot of espresso and a shot of chocolate or whipped cream). As soon as she sat back down, the back door slammed and he walked back through the coffeehouse and out the front of the door. This time, instead of walking to the left, he turned to the right and followed the same path the woman had walked.

"Silly man," Gwen said. 

We three thought this was sketchy and wanted to record it for all of cyberspace to see.