The Nontraditional Coffee Experience
For many, a visit to a coffee shop is a tradition. One will go by themselves or with friends and get their signature caffeinated drink, then engage in conversations or continue the work they’d been putting off for hours. As I sat within a coffee shop myself, my own lack of tradition reigned supreme. I simply drank water from a brightly colored, metal bottle. It was a far cry from the myriad of plastic cups that surrounded me. Yet, even with that said, the experience around such traditions was broken for many customers. I sat within one location of one of the largest coffee chains in the world, yet this location was unlike any other, fully embracing its college campus. The multi-floor experience featured the shell of a passenger plane, a full sized sculpture, and a spiral staircase that allowed guests to gain a bird’s eye view of everything below. Many others were engaging in their caffeine-filled traditions on this Saturday morning, yet the environment was highly nontraditional.
As I sat at a booth with a small table in front of me, I looked forward toward the pickup counter and tables in front of me. In this, I made a new discovery: that I was currently the only man in the shop. Even the three people in green aprons were all women. This led to an awkward realization that I could look like I was on a date if someone took the chair in front of me, and claimed the other side of the small table between us. I sat back in the brown leather seat, and pushed my laptop forward along the equally brown table. While it would be incredibly impolite for someone to sit in front of me without asking, I could not take any chances for my own sanity’s sake.
As I thought about how everything I sat in was brown, I looked up again and realized just how much brown there was in this store. The brews people picked up at the counter were brown, whether they were roasted or iced. Brown bags of beans lined brown shelves, and a brown map was behind me, showcasing where each of the coffee beans, mostly brown themselves, were harvested. To many, brown is a color associated with grossness, yet in the context of coffee, it’s a peaceful color. Brown is also seen as a natural, traditional color, a direct conflict with the neon green color of my water bottle, and the shining silver color of my laptop. Simply expressing myself while enjoying the ambiance broke the traditions of this coffee shop yet again. Despite this, few would notice. As I already stated, this was a nontraditional location of one of the great morning traditions.
Upon finally catching their breath from a slew of orders, I noticed one of the three women at the counter rush back into the kitchen, carrying small cardboard boxes. She seemed oddly distressed for carrying such a basic object in a basic place. Then, she proceeded to stay behind the wooden door for a while as the two other women processed incoming orders themselves. There was no telling what she was doing behind the scenes, and if the boxes were even important. The most likely outcome was her simply having a lot of snack orders to work on in the back. Still, it couldn’t be disproven that those cardboard boxes were being used for extraordinary purposes. They could have been used to catch a work of fine china, or to plug a leak that could have started a fire. Neither was likely, but there’s no way to truly disprove that she prevented a disaster. After nearly five minutes, she re-emerged. She had a tired look on her face as she returned to behind the counter. With the cardboard boxes nowhere to be seen, what happened in the kitchen would remain an unsolved mystery.
A pair of young men came into the store, finally releasing me from being the only man in the store. When they quickly picked up their mobile orders, I realized they were nontraditional as well. The shorter young man was drinking something with a neon pink hue, and picked up a snack alongside. The taller man that accompanied him was standing around for a while, seemingly waiting for his sensational drink or dessert to be completed, but actually picked up nothing. Then, he sat in the middle of the cafe on his phone. I couldn’t make out the conversation, but just like the woman behind the counter, I couldn’t rule out that he was doing something monumental. He could have been on the phone with President Biden, or be speaking with someone who will offer him his dream job within the week. What I did know for certain, however, was that both of them were being nontraditional within a place of tradition. Because of how nontraditional the school and this coffee shop were, no one batted an eye.
When people visit a coffee shop, it’s often one of the more mundane moments in one’s day. Yet, when they make a tradition out of their visit, it helps them relax and be productive. When one has their cup raised to their mouth, it’s like they’re holding a mask that covers everything else about them. What lies beneath the mask is often not ours to know. Even when a customer or the shop itself is nontraditional, the meaning remains the same. People break the norm daily in this shop, yet few notice it since they’re distracted by their sweet drinks and snacks. The ambiance brings people good ideas, yet some are more focused by what’s going into their mouths instead of what’s going through their heads. Being in the shop can be a distraction, but those who know how to focus on the task while sipping away at their coffee can do extraordinary things. Let’s celebrate such caffeine fueled traditions, while also celebrating those who break traditions to do even greater things.
Who: A Diligent College Student
Where: Cottrell Starbucks at High Point University in North Carolina
When: A Saturday Morning in late August, after the first week of class.
What I’m drinking: Tap water in my green metal bottle.
(Writen by Nicholas Kadela. Photo by Evelyn Semenyuk on Unsplash.)
