One cup of coffee and solitude, if you are looking for that then I recommend a crowded Starbucks . Because nowhere else will you feel as alone and as naked as in that bustling coffee joint.
It’s a place to be alone in the crowd. So, a person like me who has just been introduced to this culture of crowd melancholy always will wonder, what’s the new normal?
If you are planning to submerge yourself in a gadget, or a more formal version of a gadget(laptop) and then not be bothered by the needs or wants of people who are at the very basic level, just trying to find a place to sit, why can’t you do it at home.
“I want a sense of community without being bothered by it”, that in itself is the whole concept of Starbucks
“I want to be around people but I want to be invisible to them.”
Questions asked by somebody sitting in Starbucks, are basically travelling through various geo synchronous satellites and are being answered by somebody that’s definitely not smelling the same cup of coffee.
Dare I say, they do need somebody to talk to, as long as it’s in their virtual bubble.
And then there are moments.
Moments that will remind you that maybe we haven’t lost the sense of human interaction.
Moments like two people on a first date that’s awkward for them, but you can see the intrigue right through the chemistry happening in front of you
Friends catching up, with tears in their eyes, because of a funny moment from their past that they can’t get enough of. Tears of pure laughter.
A couple sneaking a kiss, because looking at other lonely people made them realize that they have somebody to hold hands and share a kiss.
And then of course there are those who are waiting, just waiting for all the moments that are going to unfold, once their partner finally comes and shares a coffee with them. You can easily tell those people apart; their eyes go the door every time it chimes and the sense of disappointment that just washes over their face when its not someone they recognize.
All these things are happening since the existence of time, all these interactions are valued by us as humans, we are always searching for it, come to think of it may be the crowd melancholy is just a stage you have to pass through to get to where your heart wants you to be.
