Someone accused me of being a tea drinker.

I would like to make things clear. While I drink tea, I am not a non-coffee drinker. I drink tea in addition to my coffee habit. Also, I do not drink decaf.

Thank you for your attention.

In other news, I am currently goofing-off impaired. I blame work for this but, of course, that is the very definition of the malady. I usually like to do my goofing off in the mornings since that is when I stand to avoid the most work. But as my focus turns more to work, I find that I try to schedule some goofing off time in the afternoons. This rarely works because in the afternoon, there’s not much left to avoid except the avoidance itself. (See the problem?)

Yesterday, I found myself with three unscheduled hours. A continuous three hour period, no less. I was taking a train from Seattle to Portland. Said train had wifi and a bar car. I toted a backpack containing a laptop and a book. (No really, an actual book. With paper and everything.)

I have been deferring great quantities of goofing offness for such a time as this. I had emails to return, websites to surf, flowers to order for a friend facing surgery, a note to write to yet another friend requiring regular blood transfusions, journal entries to catch up on, calendars to update, and a short story to edit and submit. If there was time leftover, I had my book to read.

Then, along came Renee who sat down beside me eating her curds and whey. No, wait, it was a turkey sandwich. I asked her where she was traveling from and two and a half hours later I had her whole life story.

She was delightful and I didn’t mind. Even if I did, I’m not the type of person who extricates herself easily from uncomfortable situations. I just nod and listen. Whether she had a need to tell me things or she couldn’t help herself, I don’t know. But, why not listen? Someday, somewhere along the line, I will want someone to listen to me. And I know it’s important to be heard.