Mooreover / Blog

I’m at a coffee shop again, trying to put the work and internet aside long enough to ruminate on my environment.

I just dropped my mom off at the airport and used the traffic as an excuse to pop by my favorite coffee shop in Seattle. The flagship store for this coffee shop used to be on Capitol Hill, which is as colorful a place to people watch as any in Seattle. That location was closed for most of last year as they built a new location – which I’m checking out for the first time today.

I had high hopes when I came in – it’s not everyday that you walk in to see an enormous white parrot perched on the shoulder of a patron without an eyepatch. The host, or perch, is an 85-pound woman in her early fifties, although she looks older than she probably is. I asked if I could take their picture (for the blog), and her response indicated that mine wasn’t the first such request. Not only did she say ”no”, but she said “Please don’t.” Alrighty then. I admit it was a little uncomfortable for me to ask, but as I walked away I couldn’t help but think that it’s little wonder that she’s alone with a bird.

My friend Alvin recently wrote a blog post about the absence of isolated thought in the digital age, and as I look around, I see his argument supported. There isn’t a single case of commingling – everyone is alone, with the exception of their laptop, newspaper or book. No one is meeting, no one is talking, and most people (including myself) reinforce their bubble with the use of white earbuds. I’ve recently been challenged at work to talk to more people, even approaching strangers and starting a conversation for no other sake then getting to know more people (networking). There are a number of recent books on this subject, no doubt inspired by this current trend of isolationism. It’s an interesting experiment: most people try to be resilient and counter my greeting monosyllabically. Eventually though, they accept my warm nature and return it in kind. Once they find out I’m not (1) an Amway sales rep or (2) a Jehovah’s witness, they might actually breakdown enough to ask me a question or two.

My battery is about to die – thanks to work that I felt I had to attend to before I started a blog post. I’m committed to writing more and updating the blog more often, so please check back soon.