Recently, Starbucks implemented a new policy: people are no longer permitted to utilize the coffee shop’s seating areas unless they purchase something. As a self-proclaimed coffee lover, this got me thinking about the balance between coffee shops being places of business and places of communion.
The thing is, this isn’t even that radical of a policy. At most restaurants, you can’t really show up and take up a table without ordering anything. It’s even courteous to sit at the counter or bar – depending on the establishment – if all you’re going to have is a drink or a dessert.
I mean, sure we can go to supermarkets and department stores and leave without buying anything, but we go to roam and look at what the stores have to offer. No one would consider setting up camp at the staged OfficeMax desks and clocking a few hours of work. Adults aren’t usually planning to catch up with old friends in the aisles of Ross.
I think that this change in Starbucks’ policy is more of a signal of the loss of common spaces that the 21st century has brought. Maybe it’s just me, the 20-something-year-old working for an industry that many call outdated (and don’t get me started on that either). But I wish we could just exist in public places where the sole purpose was to appreciate being around other people and fostering humanity.
Thinking back to how I imagine life may have been decades ago (seeing as I wasn’t alive yet), I expect that people could linger in coffee shops, dance halls and parks just mingling. I understand there has always been an expectation that you purchase something when taking up space in a place of business, so my issue isn’t so much with the coffee giant’s policy per se as much as how it represents the world’s constant need for efficient, streamlined activity.
The whole world didn’t exist via internet-facilitated connection. Though there are a multitude of perks that come along with the interconnectedness of modern society that I am not complaining about, it’s a shame that we are so glued to our phones that we don’t meet people naturally anyone.
Friendships aren’t made by talking to someone you met in the park; relationships aren’t started by bonding with a stranger over a shared coffee order. Expectations of privacy are at an all-time high. It’s at a point where even being politely greeted with “how are you” by a stranger on the street can be jarring, or if someone picks up something you dropped it can feel more invasive than friendly.
And as a result of society’s mass introversion and reliance on the internet, spaces outside of the home to just exist in are disappearing.
I’m racking my brain, and the only remaining place that I can think of where people go with the intent to try and meet other people is bars. Even then, I think it’s pretty uncommon to go out to a bar alone, and let’s be honest, bars lack a certain romanticism that a coffee shop or park offers.
Not to mention that in going to a bar, you automatically have narrowed your prospective company to a certain type of people. That’s in no way a knock against bars or bar-goers because I like having fun too. I’m just saying that the crowd you’ll find in a bar on Saturday night probably doesn’t match who you might be hoping to meet in a coffee shop on Sunday afternoon.
Coffee shops have evolved into places of work filled by studying students, busy businessmen and women working away. A place that once was filled with dull chatter, laughter and life is now the site of clacking away keys and countless pairs of headphones. If a pair of friends sit in the corner catching up and laughing away over tea, their presence can even be seen as a disturbance rather than adhering to the appropriately muted coffeehouse behavior.
But where else can people go just to exist without the requirement that a meal is purchased? Sure, there are parks with benches – and regulating hours in which people can be there. Taking a stroll downtown is always nice – for the three blocks that have a sidewalk and as long as it’s one of the handful of weeks of the year where Georgia has truly pleasant weather.
While I don’t think badly of Starbucks for implementing what was once an unspoken courtesy into business policy and even see the change as on par with how people act these days, I do think it’s a shame that technology has taken us from appreciating a degree of disconnect.
The lack of time spent with someone gives you all the more reason to want to catch up over coffee or go on a walk together. Sure, we never miss a single moment with social media these days, and that can be amazing at times. But how can we truly appreciate having someone if we never feel their absence?
Kate Verity is the news editor of The Covington News. Email comments to kverity@covnews.com.
