Today, during my lunch break from jury duty, I was sitting in a coffee shop with my head buried in my phone - a position I'm never very proud of. Mostly because it's not a welcoming invitation for someone to come talk to you.
But today I realized there are generations who know nothing different and perhaps having your head down doesn't necessarily mean "leave me alone."
As I sat there shuffling through work emails (aka: checking Instagram and playing Words With Friends) I could feel someone in my space.
"Do you play chess?"
I looked up and met eyes with a little girl about 10 years old standing in front of me with a wide smile on her face and a portable chess board under her arm.
I slumped my shoulders and said, "Actually, no I don't."
"I can teach you!"
"You know what, I'd love to learn. But I actually have jury duty today and I have to be back in 15 minutes. Do you know what jury duty is?"
"Sort of. People hate it, right?
I smiled and explained that was mostly true and then tried to explain it was important as a citizen, and wasn't SO bad. She nodded and seemed slightly interested.
"Well, I can teach you a little bit right...," she paused and looked out the window toward an outside table where a 20-something year-old girl - with awesome bright green hair - was reading a book.
"Hey! That's the girl who plays with me sometimes." She leaned over me and knocked on the window repeatedly until the girl looked up. The green-haired girl smiled, closed her book and gestured for the girl to come sit at her table.
"Well, I'm going to go play with my friend. Maybe I can teach you some other time."
I said thank you and wished her luck on her next game.
