Coffee Shop Love

Rod Long

Back in the day when I was young and single and still in college I used to go to coffee shops a lot to study, read, write, or just spend time with a friend.

Ok, I confess, I made myself sound really old with that opening sentence. In all honesty that season of my life is really not that far past. 

Since moving to Israel we have had to be much more careful about how we spend our money, so sitting in a coffee shop is not an option on a regular basis. 

However, I was realizing the other day, just how much I miss spending time in a coffee shop. At first I thought cutting that out of my life was just cutting away a frivolous and bad habit and figured that would be the hardest part about not going. Bad habits are hard to quit.

But now that it has been a few months, I realize I still miss coffee shops. And not because it was a bad habit, though maybe it was that too, but because I really enjoyed coffee shops and miss spending time there.

I miss the atmosphere of a cozy coffee shop; others around me studying studiously, working, or catching up with a friend; the feeling of being around others, but not the need to talk with them. 

I miss buying a latte or other drink not made by myself; sipping quietly on a hot drink with beautiful art displayed; my fingers warmed by the mug.

I miss catching up with a friend over a cup of coffee; or running into a friend at the local coffee shop that all your friends are likely to go to.

​I miss being greeted by a barista who knows me and we chat a little bit about life. 

I have heard some people say they can't concentrate in a coffee shop  because there is too much going on; too much to distract them. Maybe its because I grew up in a big family that makes noise less of a distraction to me. But I think I find that sometimes being by myself in quiet is almost more distracting then being around the noise of others. 

Its almost as if a coffee shop motivates me to actually buckle down and get something done, while being by myself gives me the opportunity to watch another western show. 

Do you like coffee shops? Do you like them as a place to go and study, read, or write? Or do you see a coffee shop as a place to catch up with a friend over a hot drink?