So I've always been interested in coffee shops. I always thought they occupied a unique role in society in that they provided a space to "hang out" without really demanding a lot of cost. They always seemed to present a ton of potential in terms of offering a place for discourse, which, similarly, is how I came to find this sub-forum a long time ago. It seems like the role of the cafe can be a valuable one for a democratic society because they provide you with a comfortable, non-threatening atmosphere to potentially network with people who give a shit and have conversations about politics, news, etc. that isn't a bar or a classroom or something.
Starbucks has also interested me because I had spent a lot of time hanging out in Starbucks talking about stuff with friends over the years and obviously Starbucks is something available in just about every community. I was lucky enough to have access to a 24 hour Starbucks not far from where I'm at and over the years have had some awesome conversations there and met some interesting people from all different walks of life. Early on in quarantine I read a book called Everything But the Coffee: Learning about America from Starbucks by Bryant Simon, which was a cool book about the early days of the company and its evolution into what it is today. I wasn't old enough to be particularly cognizant of Starbucks' impact on American culture throughout the late 90's and early 2000's but is seems undeniable that it was hugely significant. In a way it became kind of a paradox because it offered what the author calls a "third place", a place not home or work, where people could go to talk about politics and just hang out without some explicit goal or excessive cost. This concept lead me to another book, which I haven't started, called The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg, which will likely prompt a follow up post or two here. I love the notion of a "third place", though, and it seems absolutely essential for a democracy to operate effectively.
The idea of cafes in Europe and early on in reactionary spaces in America, like 1960's New York, has also been an interest to me, ideologically and aesthetically.
I am curious as to whether or not the cafe plays a role in any of your lives and what you think it means for our society. Has the Internet kind of supplanted the necessity to have a physical third place because now we have a huge amount of places where you can post political opinions online whereas in the 90's and earlier you did not? Is the actual social interaction hugely beneficial or does the homogenization of culture via globalization make it less valuable/impactful?
During this plague I have basically not had an outlet for the discourse/interaction I'm used to having because I've had to be confined. One of the things I missed most was being able to go to the coffee shop by my house and although interactions with strangers there was rare it did happen and when it did happen it kind of made me yearn for it to happen more often.