He came in. Black pants, an orange shirt, an orange and black polka dot tie with a newsies hat. His long black coat swayed back and forth with the motion of each step, anchored by a cane in one hand and a nearly broken briefcase in the other. The coffee shop was buzzing and he circled trying to find a spot. I waved him over to a table near my own and he gratefully hobbled over, sitting down. Methodically, he set his briefcase on the chair, put his cane down next to it, took off his coat, took out his laptop and his computer’s mouse and then finally sat down. He began typing on his computer, moving his head around as he adjusted his eyes from looking at the computer keys to the screen, his progressive glasses small wire frames. All but twenty minutes passed before the entire situation was reversed. He closed his laptop, stood up, put his coat back on, reached for his briefcase and it broke. We must have looked up at the same time, because immediately he hobbled over to me and asked if I could fix the clasp on his briefcase.

“I have to get back to work here but I don’t want my briefcase flap flying open in the rain.”

I couldn’t get, so I turned to my fiancé who wiggled the clasp for a few minutes before securely locking it back in place. We all smiled at one another, glad that his briefcase was now fixed.

“Thank you so much! God bless.” He shook my fiancé’s hand before turning back to his table, placing his laptop in his briefcase and with his cane, he walked back out into the rain.