Navel Gazing 101

Where are you, baby,? We used to have so much fun.

I don’t know what it says about me that the warmest greeting that I received was from the manager of Au Bon Pain during my brief stint back at work. I could be totally cynical and assume that she was sorry for the loss of a steady customer in an uncertain economy. But I don’t believe that was the true culprit. She offered me a free pumpkin muffin, for Christ’s sake! I wouldn’t say that we shared a strong connection, but I was treated like a neighborhood fixture in an eatery with a transient clientele. If you dine someplace in an ordinary city for 5 years and then vanish, people are bound to take notice. But NYC doesn’t get sentimental about the watering hole where everybody knows your name. I don’t know why I felt loyalty towards the overpriced bakery cafe. I guess if I had to put a fine point on it, I’d say that it was nice to be the recipient of customer service after tending to my business all day long. I almost felt the need to apologize for my absence. I might have uttered the phrase: “It’s not you, it’s me!” My default position is to over-articulate my actions and in this case, it was unnecessary. Still, it was nice for my missing person status to be acknowledged. And that French pastry sure went down smooth. In a town that prides itself on its anonymity, I’ve been missed!