Today, I find myself working in a neighbourhood coffee shop called Seattle's Best Coffee. No, I am not in the United States. The Philippines features many U.S. franchises which have been transplanted to the archipelago to, in many ways, address Filipinos' long standing obsession with all things Western. Hey, I'm guilty of it. It isn't necessarily good, nor is it necessarily negative. It's just the way it is. Certain products and services from the West really are superior to what you can find in other parts of the world. In the same vein, just because it's from the U.S., U.K., or Germany, doesn't mean it's the do-all and end-all.
But I digress.
I used to work in coffeeshops a lot, especially around 5 or 6 years ago when I worked as a consultant and didn't have a permanent office address. You could easily whip out your laptop, sit on your front porch, and sip on a cuppa Joe you made yourself. That's all good, except that at home, you don't really have a "working ambience". The enzymes in your brain that tell you that it's high time you got your fat butt out of bed and onto a computer chair don't always kick in like alcohol for the heartbroken. A certain amount of prodding needs to happen.
I had a discussion with a colleague at work yesterday about how people buy "experiences" rather than "products". That is so true, and true it is on so many levels, and for so many industries. Kids want to buy Nike basketball gear not necessarily because it can make you shoot better, or run quicker, or jump higher. They want Nike because they put themselves in the "shoes" (pun intended) of Durant, Jordan, or Lebron- the focal point of an isolation play set to unfold over the last 13 seconds of Game 7 of the NBA Finals. Quite the rush, right? People go to Starbucks or Seattle's Best to have a cup of coffee or tea not because they can't have one at home, or because what they can get at the said shops is miles and miles better than what they can get at home, or from some shack in the middle of nowhere. People go to these places because they're well lit, because they can hear sometimes-cringeworthy bossa nova music that purportedly makes them relax in the same way ASMR can make them relax, and because spending 5 dollars on a cup of coffee while chatting with friends gives some a badge of legitimacy. You've made it. You throw good money away on an Americano you can prepare in your own kitchen just because you can. Grab yourself a BMW instead of a Kia. Why? Just because.
I find myself in coffeeshops more as a matter of circumstance rather than because I feel like "I need" to spend time in such places. Sundays with the parents who want to have something sweet after a heavy lunch meal? Let's go to the nearest Starbucks. Need a quiet place for a meal and some contemplation? The nearest Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf might do. I don't splurge when I'm at these places anyway. I often end up getting the cheapest fare. Because. Just because. Because association dues are expensive and because inflation is totally whipping me around like no one's business.
I have found myself in these havens for serenity all over the world. Some branches have been nicer than others. Pret A Manger near Trafalgar Square in London. Starbucks in Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. UCC cafe in Rockwell Center, Makati. The neighbourhood, cinema-themed, coffee house right beside Turnpike Lane station in North London. Many faces, similar fare, different locations, same search for peace. We all seem to be in the same quest for that perfect spot for reflection. We all seem to be lost about where to find it.
Some might say that I'm a bit too stream-of-consciousness. They're right. I've lately become very fleeting with what I want to say, and who I want to talk to, and why. That's how life tends to be. At first you want a cuppa Joe. Next thing you know, you realise that you are not supposed to be spending a chest full of coins on one.
You move on. You start over. You vocalize your frustrations. You hop on a train. You arrive at your destination- or so you think.
Then, it happens all over again.
You wake up and find yourself still in search for that perfect caffeine rush.
MC
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