I Found Your Mug
I often finish my shifts feeling mentally drained.
Sometimes I’m also hungry. On Fridays, a bit tipsy from the office drinks provided.
After work, I always head to the closest bus stop, which is only a few minutes walk from the office. I am usually the only person waiting for the bus.
There is a bench at the bus stop, which I never use since it is heading towards the building on the same road instead of the road itself, making it very easy for any person sitting there to miss the bus when it comes if they aren’t paying attention.
Last Tuesday I was not hungry, only exhausted. I made my walk towards the bus stop, and I saw something I had never seen before. A glimpse of an interesting story, a piece of someone’s extraordinary day.
A mug under the bench.
A white, full unit of porcelain mug on an empty bench. Nobody in sight.
So I checked that there was nobody around me, and took some photos.
There aren’t any cafes nearby. So I wonder if someone was waiting for the bus whilst having their morning coffee. Did they leave the coffee to check their phone under the bench and then forget to grab it before hopping on the bus?
That makes no sense, there is plenty of space on that bench to leave a coffee cup. Also, why would someone wait for the bus whilst having a drink in a porcelain mug?
The bus came and I stopped thinking about the mug.
On Wednesday, I remembered the mug again whilst walking to the stop. How does a coffee cup end up there, under a bench, in a bus stop?
As I get closer and closer and closer, I see something extraordinary…
The mug is still there…and this time is on top of the bench.
Now, this is not unusual in Sydney. It is indeed, one of the things I love about this city. People won’t grab something that is not theirs. Sometimes, good citizens may move items they see on the floor to a higher surface with the purpose that the owner will find it easily when passing by again.
I have seen this multiple items on surfaces around the streets, but never a porcelain mug on a bus stop.
The mug was in the same state as the day before: clean, unbroken and lonely. The owner was never back to the bench, I assume, and not the wind or the people that stumped into it.
I wish this story had a more extended saga, but I never saw the white mug again. The following day there was a core of an apple after being eaten, and I couldn’t care less about the story behind that.
I am still puzzled about the story behind this white porcelain cup. My mind wonders and imagines different scenarios that lead to this item being abandoned under this bench.
It’s like that time I saw a man on the train in London, at 4 a.m, with a plant in his lap.
A lush, medium-sized plant sitting on his lap while he checked his phone and waited for his stop.
How do you end up on a train with a perfectly healthy plant at 4 a.m.? The guy didn’t seem drunk or under the influence of any substance. All stores that sell plants are closed at that time. Did someone gift him the plant just before he went to take the train in the middle of the night?
Anyways, if you are reading this and you live in Sydney… Is that your mug?
16 Comments
Lena
Interesting experience! i wonder what happend with the mug in the end….
Kiira Smith
We may find out some day 🙂
Alice
I am hoping that the person that left home with the porcelain mug got it back!
Kiira Smith
They are probably having a hot chocolate with it now 🙂
Maria
That is quite interesting. I hear that Australia is a very laid back country… maybe this could be related somehow?
Kiira Smith
It is indeed! At least compared with European cities. I have seen more than one person walking around with a porcelain mug, which is something I have never seen in other countries.
Charles
Nice read. I also wonder what happened with the man with the plant from London that you mentioned!
Kiira Smith
It is crushing to think I’ll never know…
And thanks 🙂
Peter
I live in Sydney at the moment, not my mug but interesting experience
Kiira Smith
Thank you for confirming. We may be closed to finding the owner soon 😁
Joanna
You know what, sometimes I do go out with a mug like that when I am walking my dog in the mornings… But the mug doesn’t leave my hand usually!
Kiira Smith
Please double-check when you are home just to clear up doubts 🤣
Manon
Interesting. I remember that I saw a Reddit post a while ago, that said something like: people that walk on the street with a porcelain mug in your hand… what is it like to be that confident?
hahahaha
Kiira Smith
Hahaha that’s pretty funny, I bet this is what can happen if you go around with a porcelain mug 🤣
Margot
Such a random experience!
Are you planning on making a new post about books and movies you may have been watching lately?
Kiira Smith
I absolutely am! It is taken me a bit to create the list but I will get into it very soon, there are some movies I am excited to recommend 😁