The Woes of an Empty Coffee House

It's way past my normal bed time, but after spending over an hour at the local coffee houses near me I’ve still got just a wee bit of a buzz going. I started at one local coffee shop tonight, but in the end I was back at my Starbucks (yes, mine – the amount of money I have thrown at the place should make at least my table mine).

Originally I had gone to the local Caribou Coffee not too far from my house, and I had sat there for at least 20 minutes with a pom-a-mango frozen drink in my hand and a pen in the other. But the fact was that the place was deserted! It was 7 PM and there was no one there. I had never really realized just how much the social aspect of a coffee house effects your enjoyment in the coffee and atmosphere. Suddenly the décor which normally is a perfect start for a novel (comfy and homey) was…boring and dull. I sat there for twenty minutes with the hope that someone interesting would come in so that I could people watch, but nothing. I nearly went home, but then I decided to go back to the old stomping grounds of the local Starbucks which is always hopping – and if not always has interesting characters brewing the coffee.

I walked in the familiar door with new decorations, but still the same old Starbucks that I have spent countless hours and pennies on in the past four years.  There really is something about always going back to the same-old-same-old. As I expected it was very busy; I almost thought I wouldn’t be able to find a table! It was quite a contrast to go from an empty coffee house to one that was thriving. I love people watching and this was going to be interesting. Sometimes I wonder if the staff at Starbucks takes hits of espresso in between making drinks – the level of happiness at times is quite shocking! Suffice it to say, between the good black coffee and the very nice guys working as baristas tonight I have to say that I’m not quite sure if any of my money is going to Caribou any time soon.

I recently finished the third and final book in the ‘Hunger Games’ series by Susan Collins and it was wonderful to be reminded of how a book can just suck you right in. Since I have been working full time there has really been limited time for reading. And as I am no longer working at the local library no longer can I get to see the new books traipse onto the shelves for my reading pleasure.  But I had the delight of spending a lovely twenty-four hours deep in this book – although I did have to go to work during the day – but within one day I had finished. When a book is well written it can take you over. Suddenly you find yourself looking out to space thinking over what a character would have said to the comment the person sitting in front of you just made. And impossible things can suddenly seem only too probable. My favorite books are the ones that make you think. The ones that leave you with questions on what you believe about the world long after you’ve closed the pages. The book that forever changes how you see something; whether it be pearls or forks. The kind you have to read two or three times to grasp everything that the writer was trying to say with that one character or line of thinking.

And that’s all for the moment,

~Aithne Someris