Okay, I'll confess, I think the whole hipster thing these days is all my fault. Well, not just me single-handedly but the group of friends and folk from my generation who, in my opinion, made coffee shops the cool places they are today, except for the fact that's its changed.
Back in the late nineties and early 2000's, coffee shops were the place to be seen, the popular hangouts similar to the bars of the Cheers era or even the diners of the 50's Happy Days era. It was a place where everyone knew your name, you had your favorite coffee shop you frequented daily, or sometimes more, and the barista was more than just your coffee maker, but your friend, personal therapist, and even for me, sometimes more, a romantic partner as such.
Furthermore, you never had to make appointments with friends to meet at the local hotspot, you just knew they'd be there. And, your time was not mainly spent pressed into a laptop or other electronic device, although at times, you may have gone to the cafe to spend valuable time reading or, for me, writing, but the main time spent at the cafe in those days was wiling away the hours with the coffee shop gang.
These days of old sparked not only just a nickname for me, rather a new identity, as I became the "cafe-girl" but memories of love, laughter, heartbreak, and friendship that inspired a play, one of which I am still working on with hopes to finally get it on its feet. It was a charmed time, a stolen season of my life and sadly I can never find it again, as hard as I have tried.
For today, when I head into the walls of my local cafe, as warm and inviting as it may be, there is a different feel, people's faces lit up by the computer screens their noses are pressed into, hard at work or merely scanning the websites of their favorite social media, something of which they can do in the confines of their own home so why even bother being in public?
Even bars have lost somewhat of their appeal to me. In Italy where I studied abroad in college (abroad not a broad), bars and pubs where locales could grab a pint and sit with friends while having lively conversation, like the coffee shops of America past. But these days entering a bar, I am hit with the loud music, the blaring silent tv usually with some form of sports game on, and the blinking lights of the slot machines, the idea being any sort of distraction to take away the actual ability to interact with friends and other human beings.
That's what made me sad. Technology was supposed to make our lives easier, but nowadays its robbed us of that basic human need of connection and bonding. We all have it, whether we label ourselves as introverts or extroverts, the desire to come together with a common bond or goal, whether it be religious in purpose, scholastic based, or what have you and that need seems to becoming more and more of a gaping hole. Instead of something free (well maybe at the price of a $2 cup of coffee or more) and available, its something you have to be diligent enough to seek out and fork over a hefty amount for whatever classes and such you require, then when you find yourself in those situations one doesn't know how to begin to interact.
Coffee shops and social interactions have gone the way of the do-do.
Sad days.
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