Economically challenged...

The coffee shop was almost empty, but he was still there. What are the odds of running into the same person over and over again?

Last week I met him at the restaurant, the week before he happened to be at my house, and the week before that, someone had invited him to come to my birthday party. It's not that I minded having him there.

He was a really nice guy, with black unmanageable hair, tall and lanky and forever wearing jeans. He had the best deep voice ever which made listening to him actually fun. It was always nice to talk with him, figure out what his take is on stuff. He seems to really care about everything that's going on. It's a little freaky at times. But it's also what makes him approachable and fun.

As I was walking into the coffee shop I stopped at his table and chatted for a minute.'What's going on with you' he asked. 'Nothing much' I replied, the standard reply these days. 'Yeah right' he smiled.I went up front to get my coffee. With the coffee in hand I started to look for a good place to sit and just let the day go past. It had been one of those days and the only thing I wanted to do was to relax, drink coffee and not think about the stuff going on in my life.

There was a comfy chair open right next to him and I asked if he would mind if I sat there. He looked up from his computer, almost puzzled to still see me.
'Go ahead. I wish you would' he said and smiled.
Then he got right back into whatever he was doing on the computer.

I settled into my chair and took out my handy dandy journal. It helped me work through stuff if I wrote it down and for the next half hour I was furiously writing whatever came to my mind. The stuff with my family, my friends, disappointments with un-kept promises... It all seemed so messy.

After half an hour I looked up and found him looking at me. 'What?' I said almost irritated.
'You ok?' he asked. 'You seem sad. A lot going on right now eh?'
I sighed. 'Yeah. It all seems so messy and out of my control. I wish I could do stuff, but there's nothing. I tried.'
'I know how that feels' he said and I could only imagine.
In his position I would have probably given up. The fact that he was sitting here chatting with me was a miracle, considering I was sure that his computer probably demanded his attention ten times more.
Come to think of it, his phone had gone off at least 3 times since we started the chat and not once had he looked down to check who was calling or texting him. I remembered how much I hated it when my friend looked at his phone, rather than me in the middle of a conversation.I began to tell him more of the details of what was going on. He listened, looked at me and seemed so concerned for me. It felt good. My family was far away and a lot of my friends had so much going on, that I didn't want to bother them with my stuff as well. But I missed this. This feeling of being taken care of. The feeling that there is someone who listens.
Even though I was pretty sure nothing was going to change the situation right now. But he cared and that's all that counts.

We ended up talking for almost an hour. He never once looked at his phone or the computer, even though both were furiously ringing and dinging, demanding his attention. I had told him several times that he could take it if he needed to, but he insisted that he would get to it in due time.

I stood up to leave and we hugged. 'Hang in there girl. Don't give up. I'm with you in this, ok?' I smiled.
'I know, Jesus. Thank you. It's always good to talk to you. See ya around?!'


I was still smiling when I finally left the coffee shop. So glad I met him there.

And that, my friends, is the truth

Church was almost over. It was almost time to go.
Actually I hadn't really spend any time IN church. I mean, I was here and all, but was feeling so sick that I ended up spending most of the time outside the doors of the auditorium. But going home was out of the question, because this afternoon I was hanging out with him again.

I was pretty excited. We usually hung out once a month. Always on a Sunday, although I'd wondered about that. I'd always thought he was busy on Sundays.

Anyway, once church was over I was going to go and meet up with him at the strip and we were going to hang out for the afternoon.

It's not that we don't hang out any other time. But these times were just more... special. It was just him and me. Sometimes we just sat and talked, sometimes he dragged me into the 'wilderness' and sometimes we just decided to check out stuff on the strip... Like today.

Church was finally over and I couldn't wait to leave. Still not feeling 100%, but that was ok.

I drove over to one of the biggest casinos on the strip, parked the car and walked over to our meeting point. As always I was the one who was late. But I knew it didn't matter.

He beamed at me when I got there and we hugged. Man, I was so excited to see him. Although... I decided to come right out with it...

'So, I know it's my turn to come up with food options, but... well, I don't have the money for lunch today. So I was thinking, we could just not eat today. Or maybe later at home?'

'Dudette, I got a surprise for you!'

And with that we started walking towards the market research center.

I had no clue what he was up to. Surprises I expected, but the thought of lunch I could probably kiss good bye. While he totally enjoyed having a meal together he was not one for actually carrying any sort of cash or other payment methods.

We walked down the casino walkways, pretended that we couldn't walk on any red tiles, which meant we had to hop every now and then to keep on going. Some people were looking at us funny, but I didn't care. If they only knew how cool it was to spend the whole afternoon with him.

We finally made it to the market research center. For today we had decided to do a little market research and help out the world by watching a TV show and rating it.
He grabbed a pair of tickets that were almost shoved into out face as we walked up to the counter. The whole deal was for free. You just needed to show ID and bring a bit of time.

We were lucky and had a show starting the minute we arrived (although I wouldn't put it past him that he'd arranged this). We snagged the last 2 seats and listened to the instructions. Then the show finally started.

It was a fun show and I was totally engaged in the whole deal, almost sad by the time it was over. We rated the show and then made our way out of there.

I almost just left, but he said, no, let's wait for the instructor to give us our 'parting gift'. I remembered that the people at the counter had mentioned that we would get some vouchers and stuff.

'Let's just go. Even the 2 for 1's are useless when you don't even have enough money for the 1.'

But he resisted and we waited until the instructor had finished helping someone. She came over and gave us 2 envelopes.

Once outside he gave them to me to open... I was stunned to see that the first one had $20 bill in it. Unbelieving I looked up into his eyes.

He just smiled and said 'It's a special they have today.'

I opened the second envelope and saw a bunch of coupons. He helped me sort through them until he found the one he was looking for. $5 off any purchase at a coffee shop...

'Do you suppose it'll work even just for drinks?' I asked.

He smiled and took my hand and we walked to the coffee shop. I ordered the biggest frappocino they had and paid 39 cents for it. That was lunch.

'Ready for the rest of the afternoon' he asked.

'I'm ready Jesus, let's go.'

Watching people at Starbucks

The Mum

The other day I spent half the day at Starbucks, just hanging out, reading and of course, people watching. Starbucks, these days, is my favourite place to people watch right after the airport. 
At Starbucks you will find a plethera of different people who all come for the coffee, the atmosphere or just because someone dragged them there. There are different groups of people at Starbucks and I want to introduce you today to the Starbucks Mum. 

THis Mum comes into Starbucks with the newest edition of the luxury stroller, carrying her screaming child into the store. She will find a group of 4 comfy chairs and steer the Mercedes of all strollers past all the other customers with absolutely no mercy for those who dare to sit in the way. 

The child, still screaming, is then put onto a chair and fed some gooey, usually orangeish substance which you will later find in the upholstery of the chair. Unfortunately, the Starbucks Mum thinks that the rest of the world should think, that a) her kid is the cutest and b) is not bothered by the little mess she makes. 

She then orders her coffee while her now happy child crawls through the whole store, trying to explore all there is to it, including bags, jackets and coffee cups. By this time, depending on how close I am sitting near the Mum, I am annoyed. Again, my presence at Starbucks is being used as a free babysitter. In the interest of public 'peace' I didn't ask why she thought that I was a qualified babysitter (since most of my friends would say I am not) or why she had to park the Mercedes stroller in the middle of the store, where there is no room whatsoever and it's pretty much parked in my face... 

The Mum comes back with her iced coffee that she immediately starts to straw feed to her child (yeah, caffeine is gonna get this kid to settle down) and then she sits down and starts a conversations with her child. That wouldn't be so bad, except, she is still under the impression that her child is the cutest and best child in the whole wide world and wants everyone in the store to hear how smart, witty, cute and funny her kid is. So this 'conversation' (she yelling stuff at her child like 'where do you want to go now pumpkin?') contiues at an unbelievably loud level, since the music at Starbucks is still blasting away and the rest of us customers are trying to have a conversation over the noise of the music, general coffee making noise and now the yelling of Starbucks Mum. Starbucks Mum tho, is completely oblivious to any of this. 

Usually Starbucks Mum also travels in packs of at least 2! At best that means that the kids are now playing with each other, rather than with your handbag. At worst it means you know have to fend two children off your stuff. What a joy! 

While I find Starbucks Mum quite annoying and very rude, I also have to admit that I do not have a kid and therefore do not know the difficulties stroller parking brings with it and how tired and annoyed you could be as a Mum. So instead of leaving I just gather my things up on a chair, so that they can't be played with and make a scary face at the kids. That way they are scared of me and I can drink my tall Americano in a grande cup in relative peace... 

Watching people at Starbucks

The Metro Sexual

The other day I was at Starbucks and it was really crowded. Hardly any of the comfy chairs were still available and the line of customers was going out the door. WHen I got my drink I was lucky to find a couple getting up and leaving and I claimed one of four comfy chairs in a row. The two chairs to my right were taken by a couple whispering cheesy lovey dovey things into each others ears and the chair to my left was still open. 

While I was sipping my tall Americano in a grande cup and listening to my ipod, a guy came over to the chair on my left and asked if it was taken. Since it wasn't I told him no and he proceeded to dump his shopping bags on the chair and then ask me if I could watch his stuff for a bit while he goes and gets a coffee. 

Of course I said yes and went back to sipping and listening and every now and then watching his stuff. I was lucky it didn't get stolen and while I was thinking along those lines I also wondered if I would be liable if his stuff got stolen after he had asked me to watch it! I never figured that out.

After a while the guy came back with his coffee and sat down and started texting away on his mobile. He was in his mid twenties, clean cut, very well and very stylish dressed. Someone I would immediately give the stereotype metro sexual. In the States we often play a game with guys like these... It's more like a question: 'Is he gay or is he European?'. Well, being in Europe at the moment, that game is hard to play. 
We were sitting there, sipping away at our coffees when he started to get restless. I was secretly admiring his rather pointy leather shoes. They were brown, with some sort of clever stitching on them and you actually had to tie those. In that moment he leaned forward and grabbed something out of one of his bags and then in the middle of strabucks, proceeded to use it! 

He was really polishing his shoes! 

I was speechless. I could not figure out if he had just bought this high tech shoe polishing thing and couldn't wait to try it out, or if this was pretty normal for him! I decided in the end, that this was probably a normal occasion for him. 

Some people can't wait for home. I will never understand. I continued to sip my coffee and started to read my book. Who wants to watch people clean their shoes?

Watching people at Starbucks

The alternative crowd

They only eat eggs from 'free' chickens and only drink the milk of happy cows. They usually have long hair with absolutely no product in at all and air dried. 
If they really hit it with the stereotype they are vegetarian and wear birkenstocks. The modern stereotype sports a kind of hippy/bohemian style with flowing skirts frolicking about in flower fields. 

They are aware of what's going on in the world fight against all the injustice in it. That ranges from baby whales and environmental issues to abortion, politics, modern slavery and poverty. 

They are disgusted by anything commercial and would rather take out their toe nails one by one, than buy their clothes at H&M. They take the bus, even though they could afford a car. They recycle the tiniest amount of garbage and their home is also home to at least 4 different coloured bins for different kinds of garbage. 

The bands they listen to have never and will never make it on a top 40 radio station's playlist. And if they do, they will stop listening to them out of protest. 

They will sit at starbucks and sip their grande mocha cappuccino in a comfy chair, while listening to their ipod, thinking how they like to be different and how commercialised living is just not for them.

At all.

I silently smile sitting next to them sipping on my tall cafe Americano in a grande cup. Yeah, all commercial stuff is bad... Right! 

Watching people at Starbucks

The YWAMer from a base in the city

The other day at Starbucks I saw her. She was in her early twenties, long brown hair, gorgeous face with bright blue eyes. 

She had claimed one of the big comfy chairs and the little table on her right had 2 cups on it. I realised that one was her pumpkin latte and the other one a cup of water. Of course, always get something for free if you can!

When the staff comes around to mop the floor she will be the person who will at least lift her feet, if not get out of her chair. It seems like she would almost like to take the mop herself! 

She came in hours ago and has been sitting there ever since. Sipping away on her one drink. No way will she buy another one. And no way will she buy something to eat here, since that would really bust her budget. 

For the first hour she just sat there listening to her music on her headphones. Then she picked up her humangeous backpack and pulled out a huge book, leather-bound and black. It seems to be a Bible, but it looks used. As if she actually reads it every now and then. 
She proceeds to read in it, every now and then stopping to underline something in it. She has a wide array of pens in all different colours. 
After a while she pulls another book out of her backpack. This one is a pretty one with black and while decorations all over it. It's full of little photos and notes. She starts writing in it and doesn't stop for hours. It seems like she can write for hours. 
I wonder what she's writing... Poems? Thoughts? Who knows. I will never find out. 

After a while a group of young people comes into the Starbucks. They all seem to know each other. Weird though, that she isn't excited at all to see them. Maybe they all live together in one house and she was trying to get away.

I silently laugh. No way! That can't be it! That would be one big house and people don't do that anymore these days. 
I take another sip of my tall cafe americano in a grande cup and continue to write in my journal!

Watching people at Starbucks

The YWAMer from a base in the country side

'Is this chair taken?' The guy who was wanting to take the comfy chair right next to me to another location looked like he was not allowed to legally drink yet. Young, brown skinned, a weird afro/dreadlocks look with torn khakis and a shirt that told me something about being a frog and happiness. 
I told him that he could have the chair and he dragged it over to a group of about 10 people that couldn't have been any different if you had tried. It was a miracle to me that all of them talked to each other. How did they ever even meet, not to talk about being friends?

They all seemed to be in a general age range from somewhere 18 to maybe 28. Apart from the brown skinned afro guy who seemed to have an accent that reminded me of south America, I also saw one Korean girl who spoke flawless English with an American accent. 
A group of 3 girls were all sitting on one comfy chair talking to each other, each in another accent. One British, one some mixed non identifiable mess and one seemed to have come from Canada. 
One of them I immediately dubbed the nerd, because he had grass stains all over his jeans and his hair hadn't seen scissors in month it seemed. He was talking to another guy who was sporting girl skinny jeans and a tight fitted shirt, styled hair and everything else Emo you could imagine. 

All of them seemed to have come from some major shopping day, because there were grocery bags all around them. But a closer look revealed that almost all bags held what anybody in the real world would call munchies food. Chocolate, sugar cereals, cokes, popcorn. 

This surely was a peculiar bunch of people and I was intrigued. Where did they come from? This was a rather small town and I had never seen these people before. But even tho they sounded like tourists, they didn't behave in the normal tourist ways and seemed to know their way around. Although in the short time I watched them they certainly took about 100 photos on digital cameras. Any Japanese tourist would have been proud of them. 

Not all of them had a drink and certainly none of them had a piece of cake or a cookie in front of them. Students maybe? But did the local university really have 10 exchange students from all over the world? And why are they all hanging out together? 
And even more intriguing was the fact that none of them seemed to be romantically involved. When you have a group of young people come together these days you always have some sort of couple who's slobbering away at each other in the middle of starbucks... But that's another story. 

So who are these people? Before I could watch them even more I saw a huge yellow thing out of the corner of my eye drive up right in front of the window. One of the guys in the group saw the bus and they all grabbed their shopping bags and ran out the door. One of the more alternative girls was leaving last, because she just couldn't leave the mess on the table and cleaned up all their cups and straws and sticks and threw them away before she also climbed on the bus and drive away. 

Sipping my tall cafe Americano in a grande cup I wonder if I will ever see them again and who the heck they were. But that's none of my business and so I get back to writing in my journal.