Burgers and Wine

This evening, the coffee shop I work for hosted a burgers-and-wine pop up on the sidewalk outside their storefront. They set up ten fire pits, a bunch of fold out chairs and a grill. It started at 5 PM. At 4:57, there were 25 people mulling around, laughing around the fires and standing in line to order.
I’d arrived around 4:40, late from the paper print shop, arriving out of breath with the menus and large signs for the evening. Soon, the smell of burgers and now-odd sound of many jolly voices jostling together filled the cold air. Getting colder.
I put in an order that I planned to drop off at my sisters’ house, then stood off to the side to wait. I enjoyed the bright atmosphere, and the small crowd – full of masks and laughs. I was watching my boss cook, and the manager chumming it up with customers and the usual-baristas now running food and taking dinner tickers.
I didn’t much like standing off to the side, just waiting to take some food and go. I wanted to be in the action – to be on the team, part of the event.

But I suppose you can’t always be the one leading the charge – or even a part of it. It was a lesson in meekness.