»Dear diary ...

From Joe Rogers' "Metropoitan Diary" feature of the New York Times comes this:

Dear Diary:

I work downtown, and on Water Street in front of Fleet Bank, I often buy my breakfast from the sidewalk vendor. Recently I approached the cart, nodded to the proprietor and waited by the side while three other people came to the window, one at a time.

One was given a coffee, the second a coffee and a danish, and the third, coffee and a bagel. I just laughed when the vendor handed me my scrambled egg whites on a roll with orange juice. While each of us said thank you and paid for our food, not a single one of us had actually spoken our orders.   

David A. Sifre