Bean There, Could Never Do That...

I don't usually go to coffee shops, and I have my reasons for not going to one.

Having said that, I must mention that this post is being written inside a coffee shop.

But wait.

I came here straight from work because I am supposed to be somewhere at 7:30. So instead of going home and taking my evening nap (which has become a ritual) and missing my appointment, I decided to come to this coffee shop and finish reading some notes my boss prepared yesterday for tomorrow's meeting.

Whenever I go to coffee shops I see these young kids studying - with huge books and notebooks around them. Some have computers too. The look on their faces tell me that they are really grasping what they are reading. And usually, in such a situation, just one question comes to my mind.

How.

I have never seen a coffee shop that does not play music. The music usually is not very loud, but loud enough to stop you (me?) from focussing on whatever you are supposed to focus on. And of course, it goes without saying that there are always loud people in coffee shops. I consider those people to be very rude.

So anyway, here I am, sitting in "Cafe Diem", drinking my chai and trying really hard to focus on my boss's notes because tomorrow's meeting is kind of important and I want to be somewhat prepared for it.

It took me nearly an hour to read around ten pages of a word document. Why, did you ask? Because...

There is music blaring - Christmassy music, since it is festival season. It is not very loud, but loud enough to tickle my ears and disturb me. As it is I cannot concentrate, and now I have to "face the music" to make life harder.

Oh and did I mention that there are loud people around?

There is a group of five women sitting at 10 O' Clock. When they all gathered and greeted each other I thought they were all childhood friends or whatever, meeting after a long time and all that. They shouted for like 15 minutes, took pictures, and then all of them pulled out a blue book out of their purses. A fucking book club in a coffee shop. Sure.

There is an older man sitting at 11 O' Clock who looks like an executive. He has a diary on the table, and a cell phone in his hand. He has been constantly calling up people and talking business. Loudly of course. 12 O' Clock is a group of two girls with I think their mom and grandmom. They are chattering about something that I cannot comprehend - it's all noise to me. 1 O' Clock is a kind of cute girl, doing something on her mac. She is either chatting with someone or seeing pictures because she has a smile on her face, kind of an astonished smile. I think she is seeing pictures of someone else and just "found out" something about them. Whatever.

Sixth member of book club just entered the room [I am so Yahoo!]. Expect more chatter.

So I ask those people again who have the "totally focussed" look on their faces in coffee shops - how?