As I sit in Thunderbird Coffee on Koenig Lane in Austin, I remember why I changed my work strategy to staying at home, and writing. This coffee shop is full of people – singles at tables for four, most with their laptops, lattes, and PDAs displayed in front of them like an order of privacy. All the coffeehouse patrons are staying busy enough to avoid acknowledging each other. I am not European enough to ask to share a table, so I peruse for a single seat.
My search reveals an upholstered, maroon wing chair next to a low, wooden, veneer end-table that has a black coat draped over it. There is a bald guy sitting in the accompanying maroon chair drinking tea, and blocking himself off with an erect Apple computer. I move in. I ask both of the occupants on either side of "my" chair, if the it was being used, or if they knew who the coat belonged to. They didn’t, and I hated to interrupt their busy-ness, as I move the coat over to a random chair at one of the 3 vacant table seats to my left.
As I settle in, I listen to the 80s new wave hits from my youth that are always playing here. Right now its “Shellshock” by New Order. Actually – Austin is a good place to hear an 80s sound track at any time. I get nostalgic at my gym, in the supermarket, and all the coffee shops when I hear this stuff. I wonder if they have a special Sirius station for just songs I remember from high school and college. It seems like they do, makes me feel warm and fuzzy about Austin.
While New Order continues on about it “never enough until your heart stops (or starts) beating".
I look around to take in all the people who are have crowded into one of my new favorite places. There are at least 20 people hanging out in this coffee shop at 4 p.m. on a Monday. One couple is at the table near the door. They are animated and seem to be having fun. My experience when you see a couple of people talking at a coffee shop, and I am based this on only the conversations I have eavesdropped upon (sorry that is half the fun of going here), is that it's some sort of informational interview, an official one or they are college students working on something. Otherwise you are again, relegated to brandishing your "weapons against conversation with strangers", the laptop, PDA, Ipod etc. So when two people decide to speak to each other out load in such a solemn environment , it would be a shame to not listen. Right? They are too far away for me to hear though.
One man to my right is reading “Simply Christianity, Why Christianity Makes Sense”. He must be a student, because who would read that without it being required reading from a syllabus. He is a middle- aged guy in jeans and a T shirt, with a wedding ring. Maybe he is looking for answers. Oh wait, he also has a huge book with white letters that says Systematic Theology. Yuck. What does that mean? I put in the link in case you want to know.
I wonder if people are wondering about me too. I DID shower before I went out, which I cannot confirm for everyone here. That greasy, hipster look is popular here. I didn’t have time to dry my hair before I came. And my hair looks crazy when it isn’t blown dry. When I say crazy, I mean – not at all pretty or acceptable for public consumption, so now I am stuck wearing my soft, ivory skull cap for the rest of my stay here. I do love that hat. I was hoping for my hair to form cute ringlets lining the bottom of the cap, or at least waves. I am choosing to believe that look is what is rocking under the cap, since I am too lazy and not vain enough to get up and see for myself.
Thunderbird is one of the places I go to write, and job search, mainly because it is four blocks away, and I can walk. Sometimes during this job search I need a change of venue from writing in my bedroom. The people factor can be distracting (in I guess a good way), and professionally made coffee is always better than mine, and I love the music so I will continue to pay a $5 latte admission fee to come here. Oh – here comes, Depeche Mode’s “Never Let Me Down Again”, and at 5 p.m. – it will turn to Happy Hour with beer specials.
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