The Pleasure of Anonymity

"Crumbs again?"

I used to joke that one of my lifelong ambitions was to enter a cafe' and say: "The usual." A Freudian scholar might interpret this as an unconscious desire, common to serial expats everywhere, to belong.
In these past few months, I got the chance to realize my 'dream.' After dropping the kids off at school, I walked every day to the same cafe' and even sat at the same table with my moleskin notebook and pen. Eventually, I heard the long awaited words, from the waitress: "The usual?"
I smiled. Finally, I got what I wanted: a coffee and a croissant without having to say a word.
Then one day, unexpectedly, she added: "So, how is your book coming along?"
After that, I sort of dreaded walking in. I missed my anonymity and that unique pleasure that comes from drinking coffee surrounded by strangers... and a hungry sparrow or two.