Monday, August 13, 2012

Coffee Shop Cliché

Today I decided to be a writing cliché and came to a neighborhood coffee shop to work on my novel. And now I am blogging at the coffee shop. Someone please call the stereotype police because I am clearly criminally cliché.

I have exactly one day a week to myself to work on my writing. One day a week when my older son, the 3 1/2-year old Juban Princeling, is at camp from 9-3 and my younger son, the 5-month old Duke of Juban, is at daycare from 9-5. One day a week of no appointments or errands. Just me and my laptop and my novel.

In my neighborhood there is a coffee shop called the Tea Lounge that is very famous, locally. Over the weekend I was inspired by who-knows-what and thought, "Hey! I should go there and write on Monday! There is absolutely nothing wrong with that idea!"

So today I packed up my MacBook Air and extension cord, a giant Ziploc full of snacks (because I'm cheap and cash poor), and after dropping off the Princeling at Camp and the Duke at daycare I hopped the B69 down to Union Street and here I am. I bought a $4 drink to justify the 4 hours I'm spending on the couch here, eating not their food but using up their (free) WiFi. A quick look around and I see at least half a dozen other glowing apples in font of squinting people, their glasses reflecting MacBook screens. Did I mention I also kicked off my sandals and have my legs crossed under me? The only way I could possibly be more cliché is if I had a pad of paper and pen, or a toddler gnawing a cookie next to me on the couch.

As nice as it is to get out of my writing routine and let my tired eyeballs look at things other than my living room while I write, I don't think I'll be doing this again. For one, the bus ride here and back could have been used for writing time. Second, they play not-quiet music that I find distracting, Billy Joel's greatest hits notwithstanding, and I don't mean that ironically. 

Third, I'm not sure what the bathroom protocol here is. Do I leave my laptop and bag and wallet here in this spot so no one takes it while I get up to relieve myself? Is that inviting thievery? I asked the woman next to me to watch my stuff, but how do I know I can trust her above everyone else at Tea Lounge? What if she's a laptop thief? But if I take my things with me I could lose my rather comfortable place on the couch, and the Tea Lounge is only getting more crowded by the minute. 

Oh, the woes of a would-be coffee shop writer!

No comments:

Post a Comment