Starbucks continues to perplex me as the unexpected hub of social activity. The things you witness there are like what you might see in a train station or some other proverbial spot where people are coming and going. In the early law school days, Po and I practically lived at the Point Loma one, and some of the happenings there were incredible. The guy who would routinely drag a newspaper into the restroom with him and emerge 15 minutes later. The old frazzled man with the silver reflecting sunglasses who would sit in the corner and clip Sunday coupons, then clip his toenails. We had a good laugh about these things years later, but on the whole, I think I could do without those images in my memory.
So I was there again this morning -- where else would I be -- doing my usual thing of laptopping and newspaper-swiping. I received an unprecedented number of phone calls and had no choice but to gab in public. It was then that a Starbucks patron behind me made a big rustle as she came near my table. "If you had a real job, you wouldn't be talking on the phone in public!" She sounded frantic and supremely pissed. I had an idea that she was directing this at me, but I continued to listen in on my phone conversation. She saw that she hadn't really arrested my attention, so she made a big display of pushing open the glass door. "LOSER!" she cried at me as I darted my eyes elsewhere.
And Lins continued to chat on her end of the line while I was sitting there, stunned. I think I have a very low threshold for verbal attacks. This lady was most definitely cuckoo-crazy with her wild hair and feral eyes, her assorted belongings clutched to her as she stormed out of the store, but dang it, she called me a LOSER! My mind started racing to all the distractions that the average Starbucks customers might withstand -- two people talking, a PDA-couple canoodling, the occasional noisy baby, and yes, a lone person talking on their cell phone. Had I really crossed the line? Was I a nuisance to society?
Yeah, I did spend like 5 minutes recoiling from this event. That's Starbucks, though. Expect the unexpected with your latte.
posted by Lucy Sloan @ 2:02 PM
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