Tonight was my graduate school picnic. I decided not to attend because of how stressed I’d been recently. Instead, I met a friend at Starbucks to offer some advice as she is currently job hunting. My advice would be in the form of Tarot Cards.

A lot of people know that I have studied Tarot Cards since 2005. They aren’t scary. They aren’t doom predictors. They are a way to help people think through their problems and get some answers where there are none. Oftentimes they help people consider options and perspectives they have not been exposed to. They are just like Astrology to me, and I really like studying astrology.

I’m not psychic. I’m not Miss Cleo. I’m just a seeker of knowledge and like helping people learn.

So there I was, sitting at Starbucks giving a fairly public tarot reading in the South. Am I crazy? Do I invite criticism and people beating their Bibles at me? No. It’s Starbucks. I just have my chocolate chip creme drink and a corner table. We’re good. No social anxiety, no judging. I’m very comfortable talking about metaphysical things like this; it’s just another part of philosophy and thinking.

Well I was in the middle of her reading when this random man in his 40s wanders up and interrupts us. He decided to pull up a chair and join us. He decides to tell us about his life, and how he was a mental health counselor and now he ended up here after losing his job. It was awkward. Very awkward. He told us how beautiful my friend and I were. We talk about spiritual paths and such. He then noticed my tarot cards.

He knew exactly what they were, he knew what they were used for, but he had never had them read in his life.

I don’t always read Tarot for homeless people, but when I do, I make sure it’s in an overpriced coffee shop.

After I finished my friend’s reading, he stepped up for a turn. He was very intrigued by the whole process and seemed to take many positive things from it. I told him what he needed to do to look for a job, and he took that very positively.

The reason why I say he was homeless, was because in my wallflower senses, saw him outside sitting in his car a lot. He wandered around the Starbucks area talking to random people. He was talking to this young guy at one point but he disappeared. At the end of the reading, he asked my friend and I for money. I hid behind the broke college student defense and told him I offer knowledge and wisdom.

We bowed out gracefully, saying thanks for his company but we really had to get going. We then went to a local bar and ate Mozzarella sticks and had Shirley Temples. We gossiped about boys and other simple things.

That was much more interesting than a silly picnic with a bunch of people I had little in common with.