New Year's Day

A well dressed man in his late 20's made his way through the airport terminal with a brisk, fast walk. His steps were so wide as to stand out among the crowd. Seeing a coffee shop with a moderately shorter line and an attractive cashier girl he made his way to the line; however, $2.67 for a small coffee and $3.26 for a large was more than he was willing to pay for a cup of coffee. Politely he made his way to the boarding gate. It was early morning Friday and the waiting seats were almost completely filled with people and more often than not carry-on luggage. Normally he would had asked someone to yield the seat for him, but that morning was special. It was New Year's day. He contemplated going back to the coffee stand. Surely, the cashier girl would had given him a better time than the passengers standing by. He looked at his clock and thought the time was favorable. He had an hour and a half until his flight took off. So he made his way back to the coffee stand, and took his place in line.

Ahead of him in line there was a black couple and a family of four who looked like they were making their way to a soccer game. It seemed they were having a hard time choosing what to order. "For crying out loud!" the man exclaimed in his thoughts after the cashier called for a next customer without a response. The man hesitated for 2 seconds and with an irritated and almost cocky presence, he made his way through the front of the line. He ordered a Tall Cappuccino and then asked the cashier, then a different girl, what muffins they had. She directed him to the display window where from a far he could just barely see the pastries. The man considered going to the window, but as he saw the people he had just cut in line ordering with other workers, he made up his decision and ordered with the breath of a king, "I'll also take a Blueberry muffin, please."

So after picking up his breakfast, he marched back to the boarding gate waiting lobby. While juggling two bags, one large and one small, boarding pass in hand, a muffin and Tall coffee, he focused his attention to the crowd where he looked for an available seat without having to deal with asking people to move their belongings. He found a seat in the corner of an aisle. He Finally felt a bit of luck as he squeezed through the crowd; after all, aisle seats are the most desirable. Unfortunately, as he put his bags down as if carrying a really heavy load all day, he accidentally dropped his muffin, which in the man's head fell in slow motion to the seat and rolled down to the carpeted floor of the airport.

It was at that moment that his world came crashing down. He felt defeated, humiliated and going through all the stages of psychology - denial, anger, depression and acceptance. Normally he would had picked up the muffin and eaten regardless had nobody witnessed such a pathetic display. He picked up the fallen breakfast, placed it back in the paper bag, which by then was slightly ripped, and in frustration smashed the muffin with all his might in his hands like a writer in misery. For a second as he took a deep breath, he looked to the crowd, and took a sip of his coffee, which frankly to him tasted like glorified chalk. The man was not much of a coffee drinker and he began to wonder why did he pay over $5 for a small cup of coffee on a plain white Styrofoam cup and a muffin that to him looked as small as his pride at that moment.

It was that instant, where in desperation to salvage the rest of his day that he decided to not allow that muffin ruin his new year. He got up, slowly picked up his bags, grabbed his coffee and muffin and walked towards the trashcan. He did not, however, throw away anything. That was simply a facade. He walked in that direction to purposely give others the impression that he'd throw away his fallen muffin when in reality he walked across the lobby, behind a wall where no one from before could see him, and enjoyed his breakfast. The year was just about to start, and the man was already tired and ready to move onto the next.