If I ever do get around to writing that novel, I think “Coffee With the Dalai Lama” might be a good title.
His Holiness has been in DC for aI wandered into Chinatown Coffee Co. with my family in tow yesterday. (The coffee is pretty excellent. The decor is a bit sparse for my comfort level. I like padded seats if I’m going to be sitting all day!) The cafe was full of white yuppies on laptops except for the far corner, which was full of Tibetan monks sipping brews and gossiping about…whatever it is Tibetan monks gossip about.
The most charming part, I thought, were the shoes. Most of them wore regular modern men’s dress shoes.
My one unanswered question: Who was the man dressed in the unassuming street clothes who spoke to neither group, yet obviously seemed to be one of their number?