It’s common to visit a coffee shop where customers are spread about with laptops flipped open, coffee stimulating the repetitive tap of a keyboard and shifting mouse. And while there is nothing wrong with plugging in, you’d be surprised by how many people want to be interrupted.
While living in Virginia and studying at George Mason University, an unfamiliar woman approached me in a coffee shop. I pushed my laptop to the side and we discussed the book that remained before us, Foucault and Social Dialogue: Beyond Fragmentation by Chris Falzon. This book has forever shaped my thinking, and the many conversations that followed with Lucy ultimately shaped Caffeinated Conversations.
If you’re looking to initiate a conversation with a stranger person, introduce yourself and say hello. Ask what brings them to the coffee shop and be ready to listen?
Strangers can become acquaintances, and acquaintances friends, which makes life worth living.
2 Comments
Sounds like my local cafe… the Blue Marble. The barista’s are friendly, but once you sit down, it’s like a high school prom. Everyone sits around the outside of the room and just looks at each other! I wonder if people are dying for conversation or just wondering what everyone else is drinking… “ooooh look at that sexy latte.”
Anyway – Grats on the launch J! I am so excited for you!!
~K
I think people are often looking for conversation, but just don’t know how to get it started. I was at a coffee shop yesterday and the person next me was reading The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. We chatted for a few minutes about the book, he wrote down the name, the author etc. All you have to do is ask a simple question. It can be uncomfortable at first, but once you do it a few times, it’s easy.