I spend a lot of time alone at Starbucks – a LOT of time. It’s interesting how many people carry on private conversations in such a public setting. I don’t know if people think no one is listening or if they just don’t care. I’ve learned that it’s a lot of fun to take a little glimpse into the lives of strangers – a bit like peering into brightly lit homes as you pass by of an evening. Oh come on, admit it, you do it too!
Most things I hear are funny or just plain fascinating. A lot of them are rather dull, especially the pretentious 20-somethings recently introduced to academia. I run into a lot of those types, since my favorite Starbucks location is close to two college campuses. Though I’ll visit the coffee shop most convenient to wherever it is I happen to be, my favorite is a downtown Starbucks. The clientele is very eclectic as the store is not far from a local community theatre, a couple of hospitals, a homeless shelter, a college-prep public high school trying to pass itself off as a private school, some upscale condos, some beautiful run-down homes, a soup kitchen, etc.
Recently, I began updating my Facebook friends on some of the conversations I overheard. Since my first Starbucks update, my friends and family have urged me to start a blog , so, here I am. The plan is to try to post real-time, possibly even as the conversations happen. Though I sometimes visit several times a week, I don’t make it every day, and I don’t always hear blog-worthy conversatoins. So this page will not be updated on a regular schedule.
Check out the previous conversations link to the right, it’ll give you some insight into what started all of this…
