A moment of unexpected joy

 
Today I had to go to the post office to mail off Chanukah gifts for my great nieces and nephews. I got to the post office about half an hour before closing and the line was nearly out the door.

I took this photo at the end of my block while I was on my way.

One might have expected the post office to be positively bristling with cranky energy. Instead, the three women in front of me were laughing and chatting. They were all quite a bit older than me. I assumed that they were neighbors who had either met by chance in the post office or had planned to do this unpleasant chore together.

Just before I turned the corner to the post office

But after several minutes one of the trio a woman who looked remarkably like my late mother-in-law asked me my name. The three women had met on the line and turned it into a party. All three had been social workers. Two had spent their careers working with the homeless population of New York.  

The line moved slowly because there was only one clerk on duty.  The four of us just kept our party going until we finished mailing our packages. We said our goodbyes on the street.

By the time we parted it was dark.