Books

Carl went into the library to be in the company of readers, but the aisles were empty; everyone was using the computers or sitting at the window on their phones. It made him sad, but not in a judgey way ... just in an awareness that he had also not done his part to help people connect more with words and less with want and woe. Carl committed to trying harder from that day forward - to really see people and, if possible, to make a book suggestion that could intercept the drone of everything coming at them made of wreck and ruin. He'd see someone groaning through updating a resume online, hand them a free coffee coupon, and recommend "A Fine Balance" (Rohinton Mistry) or "The Street" (Ann Petry). He'd see someone bombing social media, hand them a free coffee coupon, and share that he unplugged thanks to "Feed" by M. T. Anderson. He'd see somebody doing their homework, giving off lonely vibes, and he'd give them a free coffee coupon (good for soda and tea, too) before writing "Something in the Woods Loves You" (Jarod Anderson) and "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse" (Charlie Mackesy and Jon Croker) on the napkin. "You never know," Carl said to himself, bouncing between the library and the coffee cart outside. "You gotta give with no strings attached. Might work; might not but, again, you never know."