Coffee Shop Chronicles...Chapter One
As a writer, there's no telling what city you'll see me in whether it's at a literary event or just getting away to write. Most of the time if it's the latter, I'm in somebody's coffee shop...SOMEWHERE. And let me tell you, over the years, I'VE SEEN IT ALL. Also, YOU CANNOT MAKE THIS STUFF UP. Many of you are used to me blogging about a serious/touching topic. However occasionally I will break the monotony. With that said, from time to time I will publish my version of coffee shop chronicles which highlight the numerous sights, sounds, and observations from my excursions as a writer. But you better enjoy them, because they'll only be published one appetizer size at a time. Ready? Let's get at it:
1. Lady comes into a quiet area after ordering coffee and commences to FaceTiming with a toddler, and apparently the louder they got, the lesser they were concerned about the rest of us...as if they were the ONLY TWO in the entire room...
2. This guy sitting next to me was explaining to a friend of his how he developed his own dating app. It categorizes ALL of the women he's gone out with, dined with, slept with, and gone to the park with...NO JOKE...
3. When I'd see groups meet, it was mostly multi-level marketing ventures. There was many an occasion during breaks where someone would walk over and ask me if I were interested in investing in energy drinks, bitcoin, travel, or a special type of life-saving coffee...
4. Saw this dude come in with a huge backpack. It took him about 15 minutes to unpack a laptop, iPad, monitor, and a mini-keyboard. And after about 5 minutes, he was done, and took him about 15 more minutes to get everything packed back up...
5. Was standing in line and people were getting aggravated with the guy at the front of the line because his order seemed "too specific" and it definitely held things up. I remember him saying something to the effect of, "I'd like a venti double-shot expresso caramel latte with 1 shot of soy, 1 shot of regular low-fat milk, 2 extra shots of caramel, half and half, half regular-half decaf, and half brown-half white sugar..." and I'm sure it was more. That's just all I remembered. Needless to say, he received numerous frowns from everyone in line from the time he ordered, to the time he left the shop.
MORE TO COME.
(c)2019 Marc Lacy
AVO Publishing, LLC
A&R at ColliPark Music , Inc
4 年I need to do the hood version of this! Good stuff LB!
Speaker - Writer - Producer @ AVO Publishing, LLC
4 年#DailyInspiration: Sometimes you have to just STOP THINKING ABOUT IT...
Director/Program Management/Leadership/Strategy/PhD in U.S. History
4 年Brother, you have touched on something I haven't put much thought into...the public background chatter that exists within the writing process. I spent the summer of 2018 through the summer of 2019 as a writer facilitating the creative processes of synthesizing years of historical research and the many, many historical problems/questions I had amassed in order to complete my culminating graduate school project, a defense ready dissertation. If you saw me during this period you would have chronicled an odd sight at a number of Columbia, SC area Starbucks...a 6'1 1/2 250 plus lbs Brother in jeans, black biker vest, size 13 army airborne combat boots, full faced motorcycle helmet, with a cloth shopping bag. He would unpack a computer, Ipad, several books, an full sized yellow legal pad, an assortment of pencils, pens, and highlighters, reading glasses, and an oversized set of Bose noise canceling earphones. I would have arrived on large and loud late model Indian cruiser motorcycle, and since it looked nothing like the sea of Harley Davidsons on the roads you would have seen me occasionally have to take off my earphones to answer questions about riding an Indian. I met so many amazing and interesting people just by sitting in my favorite coffee shops while grinding as a graduate student...I liken it to my endless journey of wind therapy on my motorcycle, it is all about the ride and not the destination.? As I sit in yet another combat zone as a career active duty officer for the next year and reflect on how I spent my writing sabbatical last year, I realize that my life up to this point has been a privileged experience and I am so very grateful that I am still riding (even if my Indian Chief Vintage is 6,771 miles away from me). Happy Founders Day Sandz!? Colonel Oscar "Big O" Doward, PhD.,? Spring 1991, Delta Gamma Chapter, Alpha Phi Alpha Inc.
Special Education Teacher at Dothan Prepartory Academy
4 年Very interesting