Humans of Starbucks

I just had one of the most wonderfully random conversations with this guy I met at a Starbucks I've been frequenting lately. I know I literally just posted about how much I love studying at coffee shops (I looked it up, technically "coffeehouse" is more accurate, but literally everyone says coffee shops, so have at it), and for a girl who doesn't even drink coffee, I find this ironic. But, I just had to share my impression on this interaction.

Here's the thing about people. We're so human, and we sometimes forget. Let me explain.

I feel as if so often we feel that we are disconnected from each other. The whole concept of other, someone being different and a part from me, creates an unconscious disconnect in social settings. For example, when we're standing in the unofficial designated area where we wait for our order, don't we just look at our phones or talk to the people we came with and generally avoid eye contact with the person right beside us? I'm not saying this is a bad thing, necessarily, I'm saying it's a natural thing. And, that's why we get caught off-guard when someone says hello. At least I was caught off-guard today when the guy said, "Hey I'm waiting for my tea to steep, so lucky you, you get to chat with me while I wait." And, no, this was not a pick-up line or him hitting on me or anything like that. Not that kind of funny story. That's for another post I'm working on. But, it was literally just that. A chat because, why not?

And, my friends, if anyone is a good candidate for a random chat, I'm your girl. I live for these kinds of study breaks. I actually live for any type of study break, really. I'm taking one right now. It helps me focus.

Semi-staged photo to prove I was actually studying before writing this post

In the past couple of weeks, I have had random chats in a coffee shop with a law student about how I wanted to act as a witness for their mock trial and met a girl in the same program as one of my friend's girlfriend. It's a small world, y'all. I know being in a college-y town greatly increases my ability to proclaim that it's a small world, but even in the big city of Dallas, I've had similar experiences.

Quote I saw on Pinterest a while ago that I realized pretty much sums up the paragraph below

Every one has a story or some insight or perspective on life that we don't share. In learning their point of view, some things make us go, "hmm" or "whatever" or "me, too!". I think I just wanted to share this to encourage everyone to strike up random conversation every now and then. It might be good for our mental health. (I am unofficially saying this, I have no idea what the research is on this). Speaking from experience, it has definitely made my days more interesting, if nothing else. I've been telling my friend Courtney that these types of experiences are the spice of life. I have literally used that phrase about 10 times in our text messaging thread over the past couple of weeks. (I wonder if I can turn it into a hashtag. How do I get that permission? Will find out later...) So, share a smile, a wave/head nod, kind word, whatever. In short, as one the great poets of 90's pop music The Spice Girls once said, spice up your life.