The mall just opened a few minutes ago, so it's not too busy. And it wasn't hard for me to find an empty seat and table.
I set up my laptop, put on my noise-cancelling headphones (because the mall will get noisy soon enough), and get to work.
The headphones do a decent job of blocking most noise, but some things come through, like the person saying, "Good morning!" to my left.
I look over and see an elderly couple, both of them using walkers. The woman is leaning towards me, a smile beaming on her wrinkled face, her fist extended towards me in the classic fist-bump pose. I've seen her before, so I'm not too surprised.
I reach out and gently tap my fist against hers. "Have a good day!" she says. I can almost feel the warmth of her smile.
“You too,” I say.
She and her husband (friend? brother?) continue on their way, moving at a steady pace. In a few minutes they're out of sight around the corner.
I could do my work at home, at my comfortable desk. But sometimes I can feel the walls closing in, just a bit, and I crave a change of scenery. And maybe a random fist bump.