Just Reading The Morning Paper

Starbucks again, the Miami Herald on my lap. I always try to read the local news section first, then I attack national and world, in that order, as time allows. In the morning and early afternoon there are usually a few older guys (mostly) hanging out but there's little in the way of conversation. A bit perhaps, about the latest doctor's visit, maybe how business is doing, or family coming or going, but nothing like the heated discussions amongst the students from the four nearby university campuses. Those I find exciting!

The morning crowd is not only older but for the most part white and male and English speaking. Sure, there are some Russian and German accents tossed in with the Spanish, but my generation of white "Americans" pretty much stays to itself.

When I first started dating Vivette 16 years ago heads would turn when we entered a restaurant. Yeah, she was tall and good looking, but to see a white guy appproaching fifty years of age walking arm in arm with a black Jamaican woman was not a common sight. Now I see mixed race couples all the time amongst the college students, as well as groups of girls, who are obviously best friends, planning the weekend's shopping excursion to the mall. The guys tend to group up according to their interest in sports, or what their major is.

And here in the residential neighborhoods nearby? I see some mixed race couples with kids as well as some very white looking women pushing baby carriages or walking with their kids. Twenty years ago the whites with kids had fled as black Carribean islanders had bought houses in the neighborhood. The schools had pretty much turned black. Now the process has reversed. But my age group? I have no idea where the black guys my age hang out, but when I come back for my afternoon coffee in a few hours I'll most likely be sitting with a table full of black, white, Hispanic, male, female...It's a process not yet complete but the world is changing! I love it!