Yes, that's right -- Beverly, a.k.a. Ms Starbucks Lady, is my long-lost twin.
OK, so she's old enough to have grandchildren. But the similarities in our interests and tastes is just too eerily similar.
I went to visit Beverly today just to say hi, even though I didn't get my usual small hot chocolate since it was 70+ degrees outside. I meant to stay just a couple minutes, but we talked for over fifteen minutes.
The whole conversation got started when I found out that she loves to read. Now there are a lot of people in this world that like to read, but generally if they're older they don't have time, and college students tend not to like to read. I know very few people who do leisure reading. I HAVE to read before I sleep -- it relaxes me enough to sleep, lets my mind wind down, and gives me something other than my worries and troubles to focus on.
So we started comparing books... A friend of mine made the comment that we just both read the books on the New York Times bestseller list, but you've still got to have an interest in those particular books to pick them up and read them. There have been plenty of books on that list that I haven't been interested in. Well, Beverly mentioned that she had just finished 'Tis by Frank McCourt, and she had read Angela's Ashes as well. She also loved Memoirs of a Geisha by Arnold Golden, which I've read and re-read at least ten times. Then she showed me the book she's currently reading, which I can't remember the name of off-hand, but it's an Oprah's Book Club selection, and I told her I'm reading We Were the Mulvaneys, which is also on Oprah's list. From there it just went on and on. And the end result was that she's going to lend me her book when she's done, and I'll lend her mine, plus give her the Dean Koontz book I picked up somewhere because I can't handle horror books.
Then we got on the topic of food. Neither of us like pork (although she won't even eat luncheon meat ham, which I will), we both prefer homemade stuffing made with torn-up bits of bread rather than dried bread crumbs, we both prefer chicken and turkey to beef and white meat specifically... Everything she said, I agreed with, and everything I mentioned, she also agreed to! It was uncanny.
But all in all, it was really neat to connect with someone so completely like that in terms of likes and interests. I know we don't have EVERYTHING in common (I'm pretty sure she disapproves of my tattoo), but even still we have a great deal in common. I knew there was a good reason why I keep going in there to talk to her!!! She also is a really nice lady, and everyone who buys stuff at Starbucks in the library has her as their favorite. The other ladies get their job done, but with the minimal effort. Beverly always tries her damnedest to satisfy the customer and to provide the best service she can. I admire that.
In other news, I got my midterms back that I took the week before spring break and I did really well, so I'm happy with that. Also, my linguistics professor wrote all of us an email explaining why he gave us the midterm grade he did, but his email to me was full of glowing praise for all my hard work in that class. I was very surprised by that because I believed he thought I was an idiot, and so I stopped talking in class as much. Besides, I am in a class with a bunch of linguistics majors, and the majority of them are really smart because the linguistics major isn't one of the easy ones on this campus. So I was a bit intimidated by them... But here is the professor telling me I'm every bit as good as they are. I tried not to let that inflate my ego. :o)
Hey, I got compared to Marn today. Talk about a ego booster!!! :o) Granted, it was in a comment by my sister, and all she said was she thought Marn and me were the most interesting diaries she reads, but you know, hey. I'm not one to refuse a compliment. *wink*