Just reading an article in "The Age" about a coffee shop. "The Age" is an Austrailian site. Covering the coffee shop, the article talks about the city. I have no idea what city. I think it's either Sidney or Melbourne.

The coffee shop is interesting. There's no place to sit down, and they only serve coffee. Reminds me of some English pubs that offered only tall tables to stand, chat and drink. 

Why was I reading it? It's about coffee. I read about coffee and beer. They're a few of my passions. What caught my eye as I finished the article and perused the page was a small notation, "45 people are reading this now." 

Just think, in this world of almost seven billion, 45 of us are reading the same article on the Internet. I wonder where and who these people are. How many are men? Are they eating as they read, perhaps drinking something as they check out the coffee situation. Are they drinking tea or coffee, or port, as I am, or wine? What do they see and hear from where they sit? What time is it where they are? 

I wondered how many were reading other articles. Only 8 were reading about MIA and Madonna tweets from the SuperBowl. Just ten were interested in Clooney and Pitt at an awards luncheon. An article about a memoir from a woman purporting to be JFK's teenage mistress drew 19. 

That was all in the entertainment section. The coffee house article jumped to 51 readers. I moved to the home page. 116 were reading about the RBA and the rates. I checked what looked like an interesting article, "Paris Has Classic Car Lovers In A Spin." The site informed me that I was the only one reading it. I felt a little odd, like a person at a party who wondered into another part of the house and found myself alone, so I went back. "Women Better At Parking Then Men, Study Says" sounded interesting. I was again the only one. 

Quick, back to the main section. 55 people shared the page as we read about "Cleaver Threat As Bus Bears Down on Champ" about people in a car threatening cyclists with a meat cleaver. 37 were reading "Four Hour Seige Ends in Melbourne" in the Victoria section. 

I like the feature, knowing how many are reading something at the same time. I flipped over to other sites to see if they offer it. The New York Times did not. Neither did the Washington Post, although I could see 57 people are commented on Congressional earmarks being used to fund improvements near lawmakers' properties. 38 people liked it on Facebook and 26 Tweeted about it.

It's a strange modern world. I'm returning to my novel writing. Only 1 is reading it, for now.