I scanned the fifteen people in line and wandered into the Starbucks. It was just before 9 AM and fingered the long green card in my bag. I sighed and sat down in the couch in the lobby. “You look like you don’t want wait?” an old man next to me said.

He held a Starbucks coffee cup and sipped from it slowly. “No,” I smiled. “It doesn’t seem worth it and I have to meet my colleague here in a few minutes.”

“You know that there’s another Starbucks around the corner,” he said. “This one is nicer.”

“I have a coupon for a free drink valid only at this Starbucks. It came with my hotel stay.”

I winced a little at my reveal, hoping that I didn’t come off as a snobby traveler. “How is the hotel?” he said with interest. “Are you staying in the old section or the new section? I live next door for more than 19 years.”

“It’s nice,” I said and paused, wanting to get the subject off of me. “So you’re a long-term Chicago resident.”

“it’s easier to live here. So much around here. Restaurants and everything.”

“What restaurants do you like?”

He hesitated. “Oh I don’t know!” he said.

I filled in the silence and said, “Everything seems to be good. People from Chicago seem to love their food.”

“They do,” he said.

My colleague tumbled out of the elevator and rushed toward the door. I nodded to my sitting companion and said, “Have a good day.”

“Have a good day,” he repeated and I strolled into the Chicago early spring air.