This has been an interesting morning at Starbucks today.
Sidenote: I am going to start calling Starbucks ‘[My/The] Office’. I’m here enough, and this is where I get stuff done.
Alas, it’s been interesting. First of all – it is freezing in here. It is definitely a lot colder in here than it usually is. Even the boss-lady/store manager person (ha, yes I’m even learning the emplyoees’ positions … scary much? kind of..) is wearing a big fuzzy coat inside. Its cold in here. I’ve been too lazy to pack up and move outside. Then when I did muster up energy to do so, all of the oustide tables were full. Figure that.
Secondly, there is this older gentleman who is in here often. Not every day, but often. He has shoulder-length, white hair that he pulls back into a pony tail. I’d say he is about 5′ 10″, and not too chunky. He just has a small belly. Today he was rocking (and has on a few other days before) a purple wind breaker coat with the collar popped up and jeans. In the center of the starbucks is a fireplace that has glass panels on two sides – so you can see through the other side if you’re looking through it. Surrounding this large, stone fireplace are four large, velvety arm chairs – two on each side. Between the two chairs on each side is a round table.
I’ve been here since 9am, and he was here when I got here. He just recently left. But, no lie, while he was here, he sat in every chair around the fireplace. Along with every chair, he drank a different drink. I don’t know what he was drinking, but he started out with a hot beverage, then he had an iced beverage, and then another hot, and ended with hot. Also, between every chair rotation, he would get up and walk around the store. Slowly. He would rub his hands together, and make his rounds, then return to his chair.
I am going to name him Fred. He looks like a Fred to me. But as he sits here and walks around, I can only wonder what’s going through his head. He would read a small section of the newspaper, which he would have to hold really close to his face. So I’m guessing his vision isn’t very good anymore. Poor fella. He did also have a phone that he appeared to occasionally text on – again having to hold it really close to his face.
But yeah, I just wonder. What he’s thinking. Is he alone? What does he do after he leaves the store. But I mean, people probably wonder the same about me. I’ve been here 4-5 days out of the week for several hours at a time. I mean, I know my story: I hang out at Starbucks while Dave is at work.
This leads me to wonder about the other people’s stories in here. There is a lady in here. She is in here just about as frequent as I am. I will call her Jill. She seems like a Jill. I’ve actually interacted with Jill on one of my first visits at this Starbucks. She is a quiet lady. Her and I shared one of the small tables that separate the cushy arm chairs by the fireplace. They’re pretty close to one another, and so you can’t help but start small chit chat – especially when both of you are there next to each other for 4-ish hours. I’ve watched her, too. She appears to be working on a large piece in Word. I’m guessing it is a thesis of some sort. Jill is petite, with just below shoulder-length blond hair. She keeps to herself a lot. If she isn’t sitting in a cushy arm chair, she likes to seclude herself in one of the corner tables in the store. But I don’t know. She seems sad. I just get a sad vibe from her. She comes in, and just spends her time typing away.
Then there are two other regulars. I’ll call them Franz and Gilmar. Franz is in here a lot. More than I. Gilmar is here just as much as I am. These two are foreign guys. Franz is a rounder fella – more on the husky side. Short, dark hair, and usually wears a polo shirt and jeans with dress shoes. One day he was sitting near me, and I noticed that he was looking at real estate. So I’m gonna guess he’s a realtor or something. Gilmar, on the other hand. I have no clue. He loves coffee and straight shots of espresso. He’s got long, dark, straight hair with trimmed sideburns. He usually wears a designer t-shirt and designer jeans. One of those guys.
As far as how Frans and Gilmar know eachother? I’m guessing they both met in a Starbucks. Call me racisit, stereotypical, whatever. But I imagine that they noticed eachother’s recurring presence and eachother’s foreign appearance. Then they started talking and found they both speak the same language. Tada! That was it. They became buddies after that. Franz is here when I am, and then Gilmar comes in later, and then they always greet one another with a hand shake, and go their own ways. They’ll occasionally even share a table.
*shrug*
This is simply what I’ve noticed at the office 
I got a little bored towards the end too. Mostly because I wasn’t the hugest fan of all the music. *shrug* It happens. After the show we went to this place called San Antonio Taco Company. The locals call it S.A.T.CO for short. But they’ve got some pretty bomb tacos they make. We all ate there, talked for a while, and called it an evening!
