我在波士頓星巴克 [遇見]

因為一場午約，我在波士頓地鐵綠線的 Boylston 站下車，走出地鐵，走進位於 Tremont 和 Boylston 兩條路交叉轉角的星巴克，買了一杯咖啡，在一張小圓桌旁，我把厚重的大衣置放在另一把椅子上，於是坐著等著，看著玻璃門外近午的人潮。

不久，厚重的玻璃門被使力地打開，一個被厚重衣物包裹得密密實實，顯得臃腫的老人勉強塞了進來，直接走到放置糖包、奶精等等的櫃台前，抓起一疊紙巾，轉身走到我的桌旁，撥掉我擺放椅背的大衣，一屁股坐到清空的椅子上。虧我眼明手快，趕緊撿起我滑落的大衣，準備用我憤怒的眼神抗議一番，但一看這張包在帽巾中的臉，只露出一雙凍滯的眼眸，和一個紅腫的鼻子，猛吸、猛擦。我不覺收回了視線，用兩眼餘光注意著，這老人只是坐著擦著鼻子。約莫幾分鐘後，握著那疊紙巾，她起身走到門邊，奮力推開厚重的玻璃門，走進零下的波士頓，煦來人往的街道。我目送她被吹起的衣裾，感到一種寒意。

星巴克熱氣氤氳的櫃台，一杯一杯的熱飲被帶走。玻璃門打開後，總會自動沈沈關上。突然，一股不斷襲入的寒風引起了我的注意，我從我閱讀的書頁中抬起頭來，目睹一個骨架龐大，衣衫短絀而零亂的黑人，一手拖曳著兩根柺杖，另一隻手拎著一包塑膠袋，歪歪斜斜地用瘦削的身軀擠開玻璃門，一跛一晃地走到點餐的櫃台，而櫃台人員若無其事，眼見他熟練地從一疊倒放的空杯子中拿了一個，轉身又一晃一跛地走到門邊，企圖再用他顯得單薄的身體推開玻璃門，他先用臂膀試一試，不行，再用背部頂一頂，眼見無效，只好用他整個身體推擠，而門依然紋風不動，這個男人決定先把柺杖靠在門邊，把塑膠袋挾在腋下，將兩隻手連同手肘放在門上，加上額頭貼著，猛一使力，整扇玻璃門頓時洞開，他急忙抓起他的柺杖，連同身體，踉蹌而出。我很想知道，那個他帶走的空杯子是否會裝入一些溫暖的東西，讓他力足以打開下一扇門。

午約時候已近，我不自覺地把兩眼盯在門上，注意每一個出現在門口的人，看到一個中年左右的亞洲人瑟縮著身子，一進門來便直接走到我的身旁，先用英語問我會不會講廣東話，或普通話，我帶著防衛性的世故用英文回答他：我不會講廣東話。他隨即以廣東腔的普通話，夾雜幾個英文字彙，急促而含糊地說了一番類似訪友不遇的話，總之，他身無分文，希望我給他一些錢，也許拿去吃頓飯之類。可憐我們生在一個欺騙當道的世界，身處異鄉，面對一個全然陌生而唐突的傢伙，我如何可能掏出我那不濟的腰包？但是他因寒冷抖顫的兩手，因低溫凍紫的雙唇，實在叫我好生為難，於是把這幾天購物的找零通通掏出來放到他的手上，他顯然很失望，但還是握住這些銅板，馬上轉身出去。我當下低頭回到我的書頁，不希望看到他往何處去。

午後的星巴克，玻璃門被俐落地打開、關上，修長的大衣、帥氣的皮靴走進、走出，波士頓的街上到處飄著巧克力和咖啡的熱香，好像這世界從來就是這樣。


Encounters in a Boston StarBucks
[Translated by Huai-Ti Lin 林懷玓]

For a meet-up, I walked out of the Boylston subway station and into the StarBucks at the intersection of Tremont St. and Boylston St. After getting a cup of regular coffee with milk (tall) I sat down at a round coffee table and dropped my winter coat in the other chair. I waited, watching the lunch break movements of all those business people beyond the glass door.

Soon, the heavy glass door swung open. In squeezed a heavily wrapped old woman who seemed to have trouble just fitting herself and her multiple layers of cheap clothing through the door. She went directly to the counter with sugar/cream, and grabbed a handful of paper napkins. Then, she came straight to my table and shuffled my coat off the chair to take the chair. I was quick to catch my coat. As a revenge, I prepared to gave her a furious look. However, as I met her frozen face with a blank look and a red nose, I unconsciously aborted my protest. I lowered my head and used my peripheral vision to observe her. She kept blowing her nose for a few minutes. Then she walked up to the door with that stack of StarBucks paper napkins, trying through the door with much effort into the frozen Boston. I stared at her fluttering hem until it disappeared into the crowd. Such chills inside.

At the steamy StarBucks counter, hot drinks were taken away cups after cups. The glass door always knew how to shut itself with a heavy thump. Suddenly such routine was interrupted by a tall elderly black man who didn’t realize how much cold air he had let in. His clothes were ragged and messy. He hobbled in with a pair of crutches and a plastic bag, leaning on the door in the mean time. Slowly and wobbly, he walked up to the counter. Then I saw him take a paper cup as if he has done that a thousand times. Nobody seemed to take notice, even the people behind the counter, as he headed back to the door. This time, against the February wind on the other side, he attempted to push the glass door open to no avail. Try the shoulder… no, it didn’t work. Now try the whole back… still not moving. So he decided to put down his crutches by the door and the plastic bag in his armpit. This old man placed both of his elbows and his forehead on the glass door. Push!! The door suddenly swung wide open, but within a blink it’s already on its way back to the closing state. With a little panic this poor man picked up both of his crutches and scrambled back into the cold. I couldn’t help but wonder: whether that StarBucks cup he laboriously obtained would hold anything hot later on to allow him open the next door he encountered.

My appointment approached, so my eyes began to linger around this very door even more, noticing every person appearing at the door. I saw an Asian in his middle age creeping into the shop. Unexpectedly, he came up to me directly and asked me if I spoke Cantonese or Mandarin. I responded with some caution in English that I didn’t speak Cantonese. The man lapsed into Mandarin with a very heavy Cantonese accent, using some English vocabulary once so often. Urgently yet vaguely, he expressed something like missing his friends and contacts in Boston. In any case, he had no money and wished that I could give him some, perhaps for a meal. Unfortunately, while there are so many frauds, how could I pull out my thin purse? However, his frozen hands and purple lips really made me feel bad. Therefore I took out all the changes I got from shopping these few days and put them into his hands. Evidently, he was quite disappointed, but he still held on to the coins and turned around for the door. I dropped my head back down to my books, hoping not to see where he was heading…

StarBucks in the afternoon, the glass door opened and shut promptly with energy and excitement. The long peacoats and leather boots flushed in and out. On the streets of Boston, there is aroma of hot cocoa and coffee, as if the world has always been like this.