They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes a thousand words is worth a picture. This was one of those times.

I was standing in line waiting for my bucket of chicken. In front of me a grungy man and an elderly woman, with no relationship to each other , were “seemingly” having a conversation. He went on telling her about his last job, a very challenging floor installation he just finished, describing how he went about it , along with some pantomime to demonstrate the efforts he made (actually very funny).

She stood there intently, staring at him and said, “ I like their hot sauce, I always get it.”

Without skipping a beat he replied, “ I had to park my loaded truck by the door.”

This “ one hand clock” conversation continued until their order finally came up, and then they both left like an evaporating fog without a word.

There are no cameras to capture something like this, just a mental snapshot of what just took place. It struck me, don’t know why but I kept reviewing this scene. Were they talking to each other or just thinking out loud? Are most conversations in life like this, is anybody listening? Lost in thought, my order came up. A robotic girl handed me my bucket of chicken and said, “ Have a nice day ”. As I was inspecting the floor, in my own fog , I looked up and said “ I’ll try the hot sauce.”

The scene replayed… I guess I was listening and now became part of someone else’s picture.