Café spying again. Going out on your own is under-estimated. By changing scenery, you escape the old buzz from your old thoughts, and by being alone, you escape the buzz of others. Plus, as I’ve said before, listening and looking at the unknown people with whom you share the space is really interesting. No, I wouldn’t describe myself as a ”stalker”, thank you very much. By sitting here for five minutes while eating cake (one of the perks of being an adult is that you can have cake for lunch if you want to) I realize several meaningless things. Old men sound a lot, even when they are silent. It can be both amusing and annoying to watch children. And lastly, watching people who were alone meeting up with their lunch company, is like seeing someone undergo a personality change. There’s a woman in her twenties a couple of tables away. Dark short hair, black clothes, glasses with thick black frames and yellow plastic earrings she sits with her plate, looking straight out into nothing, chewing methodically, her table manners somehow self-controlled. I thought her a solo eater like me until her acquaintance came, a guy with the exact same glasses. Her face broke out into a smile of instant relief and she started a vivid chatter and hasn’t stopped since. Oh, I thought to myself. So this is her natural habitat, not the solitary woman eating out. Then a couple sat down next to me. The guy is a messy eater, and buff, sporty-looking, the girl thin and feminine with straight dark hair. They speak both Swedish and Chinese, changing the languages with carelessness and ease, in the manner of people with two mother tongues. Somehow I envy them, but I’m not sure if it is the language thing, or the way that they take each others presence for granted with a complete sense of security. A woman nursing her child sits down on my other side, suddenly bringing a fortress of impenetrable peace into that corner. And the senior stills sits to himself a couple of tables away, now drinking coffee and eating a pastry after his lunch. I wonder what he makes of the rest of us…