Do you ever watch people in coffee shops? Today is Labor Day, so I have the luxury of having the day off, sitting for hours in a coffee shop because my internet is turned off due to my moving in two weekends, and observing other people whilst browsing the internet, messaging people on Facebook, and publishing the occasional tweet. Productive, eh? Actually, it’s nice to look up from the screen and observe my fellow humans every now and then. For one, it relieves my eyes from the strain of LCD.
For two…
There’s a guy in an orange, cut-off t-shirt sitting at the table beside me. He has what looks like a religious book (I can’t tell if it’s the Bible, though), open in front of him, and a notebook sitting below it. He underlines and highlights in the book, then dips his head to jot down notes, lifts the notebook to re-read something he’s written, then lowers his head again to write. The pen he is writing with is also orange. This is because he is a Clemson fan, and there are just some Clemson fans out there who must silently shove their Clemson fan-ness at people at all times. He has a large green tattoo on his left arm. I can’t tell what the whole thing is supposed to be, but in the middle is an hour glass, and the sand is even at both ends. Did he ask the tattoo artist to draw it that way on purpose? Does he feel like he always has plenty of time on his hands or that he gets things done in such a sufficient and efficient manner that he never feels rushed?
Last Thursday I came to the coffee shop for lunch and observed a guy sitting on the other side of the patio from me. He was wearing a white t-shirt and crisp, beige chinos. His hair was light and fluffed just over his forehead. He read from a mass market paperback book, but before that he glanced over some documents. He looked like he worked for some kind of firm or agency in town. He looked like what guys who work at firms or agencies might look like on their day off. I wondered if he was reading a murder mystery or thriller. I could see a guy wearing chinos who looks like they might work at a firm or agency reading a murder mystery or thriller. Their jobs must be a little boring during the day; they might would need that kick of imagination during their downtime.
Of course, I have no idea if my observations are correct assessments of these people. They actually sound rather stereotypical, especially the second guy I observed. I mean, what if he’d been reading a trashy romance novel or a best-seller packaged for people who don’t want to pay trade and hardcover prices? Now that would be an interesting person to think about. What is a guy who looks like he works at a firm or agency doing reading a trashy romance novel? Is he trying to get ideas for his wife or girlfriend to find out what she might like? Does she read trashy romance novels? Or is he a chump who doesn’t know the first thing about wooing the ladies and is sadly desperate enough to find the answer in a historical romance that involves a cowboy and destitute woman? And what would that mean about his past – his childhood, his teenage years, his recent college life?
Then there’s the girl with large headphones over her ears flipping through what looks like a textbook. She glances up every now and then, reaches down to her bag for something, then reverts her attention back to the book, slumping her chin in her hand. Oh, wait, she’s not looking at her text book, she’s thumbing through her phone. She’s clearly not interested in learning about the worlds first hunter-gatherers and how they developed into the world as we know it today. Is she high school, college? If she’s college, why is she thirty minutes away from campus? Does she commute from her parents house?
SO MANY QUESTIONS!
I actually saw a guy I went to high school with in the coffee shop earlier. I thought about going over to say something to him. “Hey, we never talked in high school, but how are you doing?” I got caught up in sending emails, though, and when I glanced back up to see if he was still there the table was empty. I was actually kind of sad. I started wondering how the conversation would have went if I’d approached him when I first saw him. It was the first time I’d seen someone I knew from high school and didn’t cringe over it. Seeing people from high school is so awkward. As Janice Ian in Mean Girls says, “It’s like watching a dog try to walk on its hind legs.” It’s not cringe-worthy because I don’t like that particular person, but I’m just socially awkward and am always more concerned about being nice and leaving the situation as soon as possible, because WHAT THE HECK AM I SUPPOSED TO SAY TO YOU PEOPLE????
It’s like that time I saw Craig The Co-Worker at school before he worked with us and I had no idea what to say to him. It’s a good thing we were in passing on campus and didn’t stop to chat, because I would’ve been like, “Um…so…how are your deposits going? Will, uh, we be…seeing you today?” Yeah, that would’ve been awkward and he would probably be making fun of me for it today.
I’m just more comfortable sitting back in a chair behind my computer or notebook or whatever, observing and writing about people. OH! NEW DEVELOPMENT! THERE IS A COUPLE MEETING FOR THE FIRST TIME BESIDE ME!! Because tattoo guy left. Anyway, the woman is rather robust and wearing a pink, collared shirt, while the man is slender and wearing a bright red, collared shirt and has an accent. I also think he’s wearing some cologne, because I smell something nice wafting over from their table and it didn’t happen until he sat down. Okay, so maybe they’re not meeting for the first time. They’re actually talking like they’ve done this maybe once or twice before with a series of emails and text messages in between. He’s a teacher somewhere, but I have no idea about her. She keeps asking all the questions and he keeps rambling on about himself in his accent. He sounds French. She sounds smart. She sounds like what I need to do. I end up being the one answering questions and rambling on about myself, then end up thinking, “Wow, I’ve just revealed way more about myself than I wanted to.” Their date seems to be going well, though. All I know is that his cologne is starting to smell REALLY strong.
