Have a seat
This is one of those unremarkable things that just sort of struck me. I was enjoying a lazy Sunday morning at Spro (great coffee) down on the Ave. I managed to secure a table and spread out my things (New York Times, book, moleskine), before the place got packed. It took a while, but finally a guy came over and asked if he could sit down as there were no other available tables. I said yes. We struck up a conversation and in turns out he has been organizing a discussion group about the situation in Egypt at another local coffee shop. There is one a week and a half from now and I am going to check it out.
The question “may I sit here” is funny primarily because I really have no place saying no. It’s not my chair. This isn’t my cafe. They are letting me loiter here temporarily because I submitted legal tender for services rendered. It seems like we live in a society where people act like their “bubble” is their property. When you get down to it, that is completely unnatural and sort of preposterous. My uncle was recounting to me how there are workers at the Tokyo metro whose sole job is to forcibly push people into trains, as the quantity of people trying to get on is so enormous. By contrast, sharing a table in a cafe is luxurious. I know this happens all the time, but it is interesting that it even requires a formality.
It’s also funny that we are so obsessed with social networking online and continue to innovate new ways to draw closer—electronically—with each other, but physical proximity continues to be oddly uncomfortable. This is especially peculiar because, as today illustrates, the returns on investment are a lot better when you make a connection in person. We’re so keen on immediately finding people who match the “keywords” we’ve reduced ourselves to being that we no longer take the risk of engaging blindly with other human beings for fear that it will be a waste. As a result we forgo the opportunity to open our social horizons as it were.
