Yes, every now and again you can find him at a coffee shop. You know, that no-product-in-hair, sporting a five-day stubble, lost-my-inspiration, sitting-in-the-corner-with-my-laptop writer who, by the way, is not having any coffee. So he's been stuck in his apartment for days now and has not been able to come up with a half decent piece. Suddenly it hits him..." In order to get rid of my writer's block, I need to spend a whole day sitting in a coffee shop with my laptop." You know what? good for him. I don't see why it has to be a coffee shop but hey, whatever floats his boat right? At least he's doing something to help himself. Some might even say it is his RIGHT to go into that coffee shop and never leave until he is inspired.
Now, this one-bad-script-away-from-turning-into-a-hobo dude has a "reason" to be there. Perhaps he wants to watch people come and go, study them as they interact with one another, he wants to capture something very natural.... I don't know what his reasons are for sure but I'm pretty sure he's just trying to do whatever it takes to get his work done. Leaving this man aside, let us look instead at the million or so other people who feel it is quite all right to sit around in coffee shops, taking up all the space, with their laptops on the coffee tables. Let's ask these people what the problem really is. What are they avoiding at home? It's a laptop people! You could be anywhere with it- a library perhaps? Why are they all always at the coffee shop? I mean there are people who actually just want to go to the COFFEE shops to just have some COFFEE. Where are such people going to sit If all these other crazies have taken up all the room?
I miss my beautiful Nigerian weather and curse this bloody weather. I am not and will probably never get accustomed to the weather here. This is why from time to time I run into a coffee shop, trying to get away from the cold for a while, trying to get a cup to warm my freezing soul. And then I spot them all. Yes, there they are. Male and female alike. The men with way too much hair product/the women with their pashminas wrapped around their necks, sipping on their pretentious espressos, staring blankly at the Mac notebooks before them. And then the voice from across the counter asks " for here? or to go?" I look around and thirteen or so notebooks stare back at me. Then I grudgingly reply "to go please." I zip up my jacket which I had unzipped earlier when I thought I was going to get some respite from the cold, you know, before I looked around and saw there was no place for me to sit.
When I leave the store I look into it as I walk across. What do I see? I get to see some of the screens and my fears are confirmed...facebook, youtube, myspace..etc. At this point I am outside and it is about twenty degrees below with wind chill that makes it feel like it's -30. I am in this situation because some people thought it would look like something out of a Tom Hanks/ Meg Ryan romantic comedy to sit in a coffee shop and appear to be working on their computers. They go on to spend hours on facebook poking their friends, Watching whatever it is they love to watch on youtube. For the love of God people! The coffee place is for coffee.
