Over a cup of coffee
WE BORROW for this piece the title of a long-ago column (and TV talk show) by Teodoro Valencia (1913-1987) who spearheaded the refurbishing of Rizal Park in the 1960s. This opinion leader also presided over regular coffee sessions at the lobby of a now demolished five-star hotel along Ayala Avenue. The regulars there even had coffee mugs with their names on them.
What is it about coffee that continues to hold its mystique as the beverage of choice for off-the-record conversations or intimate meetings? How did taking coffee evolve into a chat occasion for two (or more) so that an invitation for a cup has become a low-cost alternative to a date or an informal business conversation? It’s certainly cheaper than a steak lunch and quieter than a single malt whiskey bar visit.
People are willing to pay a high price to take coffee at a franchised chain in its various forms, hot or iced, various flavors not limited to milk, regular, or decaf, in small cups or big mugs. Caffeine consumption and the proliferation of coffee shops seem to have little to do with a healthy lifestyle. (Does it really cause hemifacial spasms?) These coffee places offer solid alternatives too like cakes, sandwiches, and breakfast offerings that don’t require utensils.
What brings people to coffee shops? (Clue: it’s not just the caffeine rush.) And why do they stay longer there than in restaurants where they don’t tarry after finishing the meal? In the interest of full disclosure, the findings in this piece are based merely on observations.
Why does a big group for lunch move to another place for coffee, maybe with a smaller cohort?
Those who take coffee after lunch may not do so in the same restaurant where they had their meals, even if coffee in all its forms is available there. In a lower voice, the host may convince the targeted counterparty to take coffee and dessert in another place, within walking distance from the lunch venue.
The intent of shedding other lunch mates becomes clear as another agenda (like shared services) is proposed with the designated coffee mate, hence the expression — do you want to have coffee after? Coffee is considered both a stimulant and a diuretic. This is why coffee places are near toilets or have one in the premises which are usually open to either gender, though not at the same time. Even the queue for the washroom is mixed.
Coffee is a beverage that is bitter which describes how the relationship later turns out, if such intimacy as dessert, perhaps sugar-free cheesecake, is not added to the mix. Coffee can become the code word for a tryst, hence the cryptic text message: do you want another cup?
What about solo coffee drinkers? It is possible that coffee couples are reduced to becoming solos with either a late cancellation (Sorry, I can’t make it as I just had a hip replacement.) or maybe a walkout after the first cup. (I didn’t like the way you stared at me, when you were stirring your decaffeinated cafe latte with the stick.)
Intentional solo coffee drinkers may camp out at a corner table working with their computers. This is sometimes lumped under a work-from-home protocol where the background wall must be white or blurred. The coffee place with its free WiFi serves as an office where these solo drinkers answer e-mails and join webinars. Their average stay in the shop is two hours and 13 minutes. They order the minimum amount needed for WiFi access, consisting of plain coffee (small) and a bagel or corned beef pandesal. The tiny uneaten portions serve as props to show they are paying customers savoring the music.
Some soloists merely sit back and lounge as if they’re on the sidewalks of the Champs Elysees. They pick tables outside observing the ebb and flow of life, meditating on materialism and how it erodes the soul, the safety of municipal bonds, and the fate of contested waterways. Some solo drinkers not busy with computers don sunglasses and take a nap.
Coffee then is ritualistic more than nutritional, though the brew is thought to have therapeutic properties to prevent cancer and stimulate alertness. Such attributes are required over conversations that induce sleep… but require one’s full concentration.
Tony Samson is chairman and CEO of TOUCH xda
