It's been pouring down rain all day. I don't understand what it is about the rain that makes people want to come into the coffee shop where I work on a day like today. You'd think they would just stay home where it's warm and dry.
Instead, they come to this little place, full of coffee brewers, espresso machines, turning it into a sweaty, humid, crowded place. Dozens of people,lining up around the lobby, dripping wet, laying there hastily-folded umbrellas on my counter, leaving umbrella-water puddles behind for the next guest to place her handbag in. And ick now your suede wallet is all soggy. I'm sorry miss, I didn't realize that was wet...here let me wipe it, and can I get you a napkin? Why am I so sweaty all of a sudden? Ugh.
And that's when I see them, lighting up, one by one. A hot chocolate, a vanilla latte, a small cup of black coffee. Oh, yeah, an oatmeal. Can you please heat up a butter croissant for me? Could you make that extra hot? We don't need a bag, we're staying right here. I look around, wondering where they'll sit. But they find a spot. People don't mind sharing tables today. It's very communal, homey.
Mixed in with my "regulars" is a disproportionate number of traveling folks, passers-through. Just had to get off the freeway, it's been bumper-to-bumper for 90 minutes straight. The kids were going nuts packed into the SUV, had to use the bathroom, starving, caffeine-deprived....All the way to Orange County, can you imagine, in this weather?
Cold and wet. Not sitting at home, with the sudden urge to head out into the rain. Stuck on the road, running errands, headed away for the weekend, in need of a pick-me-up. Home isn't an option right now. So here, in this little coffee shop, they find their warm and dry. When I look at it that way, it's kind of nice.
Sounds pretty crazy, I used to work at one of the busiest SB in Sd (in '05 it was)and I remember it would get like that. Friday nights were annoying to me because it would get so loud and mornings about 8am the drive thru was insane.
ReplyDeleteAny type of congregating people can be a nuisance. In my job the rain chases them away and since it only happens once in a while, I love it. Tomorrow, I will be out in the rain, practically alone. :-)
I'm glad you were able to see it through their perspective and get a lil' serenity from it.
You made me want to join y'all. It does sound like a little escape on a not-so-nice day!
ReplyDeleteI love hanging out in coffee shops, I've been doing it since high school. I used to go to Gelato in Mission Hills, do you remember that place from SD? MY BFF worked there. Now my local Starbucks is like my office. I go there for hours when I have someone to watch my kids to work on my blog or book.
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