Coffee Shop Culture
Ok, don't run away, I'm talking about the coffee shop culture, but don't be quick to label me as a millennial who doesn't work and sits sipping $6 pour-overs all day. I think people are on two sides of a spectrum: one side defining "coffee shop" as Starbucks quickly served coffee, the other side seeing "coffee shop" as long afternoon sitting at a weathered wood table with a french press slowly being enjoyed and pencils and sketchbooks and a computer piled in front of you, alternating between creative pursuits. The emergence of coffee shops is undeniable, no longer is Starbucks streamlined approach to service the "popular" thing. It's all about fair trade, locally roasted, pour-over only, HydroFlasks with artsy logos (I will admit to owning one tiny one), and baristas with more variety of beanies than imaginable and less variety of tattoos than I thought possible (let's be real, there is a "look" for baristas).
I try to oppose mainstream. Last fall, a new coffee shop opened very close to me with good coffee and great space, but it was oh-so-popular and everyone had the shops logo stickers on Macbook covers and Nalgenes so I refused to go until almost four months after it opened. I really try to not be another millennial, but I really love coffee shops and have an ongoing list of new ones to visit. I have many favorites for all different reasons. Some for the actual coffee, but I'm pretty picky (if you want to know the worst Americano in Azusa I can tell you). Some for the coolest marketing, others for the best music played, another for the free refills, and the one no one will find me at. I'm hooked on coffee and the coffee shop culture.
Maybe because it is an actual space where I feel I could pull out paper and paints and not be given a second glance. Or where I know I will discover new music, new books, new art. It fuels my creativity even though it is a popular trend. I think people have become so enraptured with coffee shop culture because it gets us back to simpler roots. Although many people go with computers and head phones, I also see many sitting and talking or simply reading a book. Nestled in a corner booth, or lounging at a table on the patio, it is a space where conversation and slow moments are cultivated. Restaurants need to move people out so more people can come in, parks can be cold or have screaming children, and library's are quiet zones. Coffee shops beg you to come and stay, to talk or not, to sit by a window and breathe. My favorite coffee shop ever, Bindle, has the tag line "Sit and Savor." Yes, please, in a world where I can't even keep up with the news let alone the books I want to read and people I want to see, please let me have a place to sit and savor.
I don't think it's any coincidence as the world progresses at an alarmingly fast rate simultaneously people are seeking simpler things. I read an article recently in a business magazine about how just as many millennials moved out of urban cities as moved in this past year. People are moving more for slower neighborhoods, where previous years cities were winning out. Bookstores like Parnassus (I want to visit it so badly) in Nashville are booming in an age of Kindles and iPads. #optoutside instead of shopping, living out of an airstream, natural light photography, and home grown everything, in so many areas we are screaming for the slower, simpler life. Maybe before cultural trends are scoffed at, think about the root of it, the why. Then give sitting in a coffee shop a chance, with the book you've been trying to finish, steaming coffee, and the soothing sounds of Bon Iver playing through the speakers.
