“I was in here earlier and some girl told me I looked like Mr. Rogers”

I looked up, and sure enough, he had been in the coffee shop earlier, as had I, and he did kind of look like Mr. Rogers.

We were both back now, me with my computer and he with a friend.

I tried not to be too obvious, but I couldn’t stop watching them. They seemed like such opposites. It made me wonder how they became friends and ended up hanging out in a coffee shop together on a Saturday morning. 

Mr. Rogers’ doppelganger wore a blue-gray sweater with a light blue collared button up on his thin frame just as you’d expect a  doppelganger of Mr. Rogers would. His combover was also reminiscent of Mr. Rogers but a little more carefree as it fell slightly in his face. And instead of dress shoes with laces at the bottom of his cargo khakis (another more casual deviation from Mr. Rogers), he wore what looked like Hey Dude knockoffs. No tying laces for this guy. He had fun blue socks on and spoke with a quiet voice. But though his voice was quiet, he did most of the talking. 

His friend on the other hand, if he had been younger, looked more like what I like to call your cliche South Carolina preppy boy. His large frame sported a teal (probably Polo, but I couldn’t be sure) polo shirt, khaki shorts, Sperry’s with ankle socks, a smart watch, and his hair was perfectly sprayed back, not one out of place. And although his voice deep carried and his laughter almost boomed, he spoke very little.

They were opposites of each other and opposite of how you think they would be, and that’s why I couldn’t stop watching them and trying to catch pieces of their conversation. Unfortunately, the noise of the fancy coffee machines making their fancy drinks in the background drowned out most of it, but I did catch this nugget when I heard loud beeping noises and looked up to see Mr. Rogers dialing out on his flip phone.

“Here” he said as he thrust the phone towards his preppy friend.

His friend took the phone and waited. “Hey! Thank you for the fancy socks.” Unfortunately, unlike Mr. Rogers, he was not wearing his fancy socks today. 

“Wait a minute.” He pulled the flip phone from his ear and stared at it, turning it from side to side. I assumed he was looking for the volume.

He put the phone back to his ear. “Go ahead. I can’t figure out how this cheap phone works.” I noticed his smart phone laying on the table.

Again, trying not to be too obvious, I couldn’t help but laugh. I immediately went back to work, recording them and their conversation in my notes, just like any writer worth their salt would do.