Leo, the mailman, and I are friends. The demands of his job confined us to short conversations. We did a lot in those few minutes, which were no more than ten. We snatched a few minutes as he walked up to the porch to deliver the mail and a few more minutes as he stood on the porch before walking back to his mail truck to move on to the next neighbor.
Discussions Over Espresso
We talked about food; nutrition; his passion for photography; social and world issues; and changing diets. I told him about my recipes and my cookbook writing. I let him sample my food experiments and appreciated his feedback. We discussed all this over espresso that I made, one for me and one for him. His was different from mine. I added a little piece of dried mint and added few drops of chocolate stevia drops. Sometimes I left the coffee in a thermos for Leo on the porch when I didn’t have time to talk or couldn’t wait for him.
I looked forward to his visits. While I didn’t know his exact time of arrival, I did know his work shifts, which rotated every couple of weeks.
Want A Cup of Coffee?
I had not seen him in a few days and assumed that he would be delivering mail that day, a Saturday. I was wrong. Another carrier showed up to deliver the mail. He walked up the two front porch steps to hand me the mail. I looked down at the thermos that was sitting on the step right near the mailbox. I wasn’t going to drink it. I had already had my two espresso drinks. As the mailman advanced on the porch and handed me the mail, I asked him if he would like a really good cup of espresso. He smiled as wide as his face would let him and his eyes lit up. He was thrilled and so was I to give him the coffee. Such a small thing brought such a big response!
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