A quiet place for Reflection
I didn’t plan it but looks like this will end up as something that I had no plans to write about. So here’s my story (and I’m sticking to it).
My chosen spot to hangout with my latte and my laptop in front of me has , to this point been the Coffeehouse on Cherry Street. It’s a popular place that’s often too crowded for my liking but if I choose a weekday morning or early afternoon, I can typically find an open table out front in the shade and spend an hour or two, jotting down some the things that are occupying space in my mind. It’s usually fairly quiet as well.
However, this morning that search for the quiet spot led me here to Starbucks at Utica Square. Do you know what it sounds like with twenty people talking in your ear nearby. So here’s how it starts. The tables are all empty. All the patrons are occupying tables inside because, although the sun hasn’t had a chance to turn this area into an open air sauna, it’s 72 and comfortable inside all the time. The first two people find a table outside. The conversation is quiet and intimate. Sooner or later, others begin to fill in at the remaining tables. The volume starts to increase because it’s no longer one talking and one listening. People automatically start talking louder when someone else is bumping THEIR gums nearby because they think the person(s) they’re talking to can’t hear them. From there, it gets worse and louder, and LOUDER. That’s when I show up. By this time I’m the only one that’s aware of the roar, this symphony of conversation has become. It’s loud. And, just my luck. The two ladies behind me are talking in a foreign language, Chinese would be my best guess. So how do I turn around and shout out “Shut the f. .ck up!” (in Chinese)? Not that I really would. And, think about it, no one else would understand so how much good would that do?
So, I pulled out my Airpods, stuck them in my ear, as far as they would go and set my Pandora app on some soothing Hawaiian music. Did that do the trick? No, it didn’t! Now it’s like I’m at a Kalapana concert and I’m the only one who cares to hear the music that they’re playing. Wait a minute! The Chinks ( I mean, the oriental couple) that were talking my ear off right behind me, just got up and left. Strangely enough, (and I turned down the volume on my Airpods to discover this), when they left, it’s almost like everyone else doesn’t seem so loud anymore. Just my imagination? Perhaps.
It’s my own damn fault really. I didn’t have to stay. I could have, and probably should have, just claimed my mobile order, get back in my car and go somewhere else. Coffeehouse on Cherry Street. Oh well, I released my frustrations and I feel a little better. Man, it’s humid out here. It’s nearing the end of September and there’s no relief in sight from the scorching summer heat. Fall’s on the horizon, I think and in a couple of months, I’ll be complaining about how cold it’s become and wishing it was summer again. How quickly we forget.