500 Words a Week - A Busy Coffee Shop
A busy coffee shop, full of busy people doing busy things. The bang is heard as the barista rids the used coffee grinds. A waiter drifts through the cafe, picking up all the used coffee cups. What are they thinking? What are their dreams? What are they working for? Perhaps to fund themselves for something more, or to fund those they love. Maybe it’s a temporary break from a world they got caught up in, and now they are finding their feet again. How much of life hides behind the surface unbeknownst to us?
We see the impatient person at the counter, figuring that if they tap their foot a little faster and stare a little harder, their coffee will come a little quicker. And just as they entered, they leave in a whirlwind, huffing about the extra minute they had to wait, for is the world not meant to bend itself to suit their very needs?
Laptops, airpods, books, objects we find in the hands or on the tables around us. We hear scatterings of conversations slightly heard over the slightly too loud background jazz music. We hear that one individual who has decided to take a meeting in this environment, unaware of how far their voices travels while they talk about deadlines and more meetings.
Work from homer’s working elsewhere, maybe for a change of scenery, maybe planning a change of something else entirely. Working from a coffee shop is the place in which they plan daring dreams, side hustles they hope to become their main hustle.
A place where people go to meet those close to them, or those they hope to be close too. First encounters with potential business partners, employers or a significant other. Pitching ideas of grand business or grander love. Maybe it’s a place those feeling alone go to feel a little connected with the wider world around them. A temporary escape from a lonely home.
Or maybe those individuals' souls littered around are seeking a moment of respite from busy home lives with tyrant toddlers causing terror.
Hidden amongst the ambient buzz of people on a never ending quest for more, sits an older soul. Nothing but a coffee in front of them. Coming to this same place for the past 10 years or more, before it changed into the new trendy place it now markets itself to be. This soul sits patiently, taking in their surroundings, enjoying the unique ecosystem of the busy coffee shop. Perhaps this was a weekly ritual with someone they loved, and despite that person not being around anymore, they have continued it on. Reminiscing of the beautiful comfort and safety we feel when sitting with someone we love. Thinking about what they would give to see their loved one’s smile one more time, as they see the new romances attempting to form around them.
In our constant rush, one day we will realise we lived our life in a hurry. Missing out on all the beauty and wonder around us. Slow down. Enjoy the busy coffee shop.
