Coffee shop vs. McDonald's

On Wednesday I went to a coffee shop to work, and no one said a word to me (and vice versa).

On Thursday I went to a McDonald’s to work. The difference was like night and day.

11:10 am: An older black man cheerfully walks up to me. “That’s great! That’s so small!” he says, pointing to the netbook the family gave me for Christmas (apparently embarrassed that my last laptop was so old the ‘A’ key had fallen off. “It reflects badly on us!” my brother said).

The man: “That must really help you students!”

“Thanks!” I say. “It doesn’t do much, but I only use it for Internet and Word anyway, so it’s perfect!”

11:50 am: I'm sitting at the table closest to the door. The door opens and a large black man is suddenly sitting across from me at my table. He whispers something incomprehensible. "What!?" I say, surprised at how quickly he appeared. "Would you buy me a delicious hamburger please?" "No," I say, still in shock. He says immediately, "Why not?" Me: "Why? Because I don't want to... And I think it's kinda weird that you just walked in and sat at my table like that.” He stays put for a few more seconds, staring at me as I turn my eyes back to my computer. He mumbles in an annoyed way, then gets up and as he walks by me, says, "I'm not Asian." I hear him moving onto the next person.

A few minutes later he passes me again on the way out the door and calls out, "I got one, dog." Indeed, he appears to be carrying a McDonald’s bag. I look at him and say haltingly, "I'm...glad."