Headphones

Here’s the thing about headphones, the mere presence of them seems to put random strangers at ease. Few people stop consider if there’s actually any audio coming through those little buds. Their guards go down, and they forget that you even exist.

Headphones have proven very useful while gathering observations in the Sweetwaters coffee shop.

Thus far, I’ve heard a set of parents counseling their potential (perhaps future? I couldn’t quite be sure if the youth had already committed to Eastern or was simply on a tour) son about the benefits of campus life and some of the downsides. Nearby, two professors talked about an upcoming faculty event. Meanwhile, across the way, a gaggle of co-eds commanded the massive gathering table, laughing uproariously.

It was a neat thing to pay silent spectator to these very human, everyday moments. And then as these patrons left more filtered in to take their place. The cycle began anew. Only this time the two customers nearest me began sharing far too many annoying details about their lives that I did finally begin playing some music. That’s the other good part about headphones; they make for a quick escape route.

Observations are going quite well, it’s only this business of actually compiling them into a coherent thesis to generate a paper that eludes me. I might try focusing on how the coffee house (located just east of the legendary water tower within the new section of storefronts that did not exist perhaps three years ago) plays host to a wide variety of people for a number of reasons. Studying, gossiping, inking leases, I’ve seen it all so far. But that doesn’t really provide a lot of mileage.

Or I might play with the evidence that the staff seem to genuinely enjoy their time spent at work in the coffee house. I’ve seen them end a shift and then return less than an hour later just to hang out while their coworkers continue working. On one such occasion, a barista returned with three bowling pins and then began juggling them. He put on a show for his coworkers and the patrons, even balancing one on his face before we began to applaud. It must be the caffeine.

Only that would almost seem cruel. I get the sense, as a former general manager in the industry (albeit not coffee), this establishment can’t be making all that much. I’ve found myself wondering how much longer they’ll stay open. It seems to me that they’re one slightly closer Starbucks (with a drive-thru) from closing their doors for good. While I have seen some curious, even entertaining moments, I’ve also more often been one of only two or three customers in the store for hours at a time.

Could I be writing a paper about a community shuddering its last dying breath?