A Conversation At Epoch

"I just realized today," said the man behind the counter, "that I've been seeing you in coffee shops around Austin for, like, twenty years."

"Not quite twenty," I said. "Since 2003."

"You used to be at Mojo's all the time!"

"Yes! That's the one where I met my--well, didn't meet, but I used to go on dates with my boyfriend, then fiance, now spouse. It was our coffee shop until it closed. The one with the arcade next door, right?"

He brought my iced tea. (Mango black. Good with cream.) "No, that was Metro."

"Metro! That was it. That was our shop, until it closed. They had the great chai, and the arcade next door. We could swap off on watching our stuff while someone went next door and played video games."

"You used to be able to smoke upstairs, next to the window," said another man behind the counter. "Remember those days?"

"That's what I miss," said the first man. "Being able to play video games at 3am."

And, in a wave of nostalgia, I walked off with my iced tea, thinking about the ways Austin has changed since--

My god. I think I'm practically a local.