The Woman Behind the Counter

Infinite Threads with Bob Barnett · Oct 20, 2026 · 13m · transcript

Welcome back to Infinite Threads. I’m your host Bob.

Yesterday, we met Mark.

He started the day irritated, helped an older man whose grocery bag split in the street, and then carried a little more patience into a coffee shop.

Behind the counter was Maya.

Mark knew almost nothing about her.

Today, we do.

Maya had been awake since 3:12 that morning.

Her mother had called from the hospital.

Nothing catastrophic had happened, but the doctors wanted to keep her overnight and run more tests.

Those are the kinds of words that can sound very calm when somebody else says them.

“We just want to run a…