I think it’s getting high time to just slap a mermaid logo on the freakin’ site. I mean, it’s not that I work for Starbucks, but every fourth post seems to have something to do with the place… either a new drink, or a customer service thing, or god knows what – it just seems to be the center point of my happenings lately. Today, being a weekend day, I purposely kept as empty as I could, so I could “detox”; it’s been a really long week. I picked up my Jeep from the body shop, since some random drivers have hit the thing twice – both times in my own parking space at home! – and I wanted to do some up keep around the house (didn’t succeed, at all,) entertain my rabbit (lasted a half hour,) and work on my book some (started another chapter!)

By 5:00 I decided I needed a break, and at least to get out of the house, so I flung the Sony notebook in a bag and hit the road – I think I just needed some time to bond with my dirty sexy winter bitch, because I had missed her for a week… good thing I remembered to drive the Jeep like a Jeep – if I took turns in that thing like I did my Passat, I’d be spinning on my top like a turtle somewhere in CT. As I’ve spend way too much money lately, mostly on technology and a futile effort to kick start the economy for 2003, I needed a place to go and people watch for a little while: Starbucks.

So I started working on Chapter 7, but I got distracted – go figure. This place is packed! At 5:30 there’s only one open seat in the place (and one active notebook… people in the northeast are so non-technological) and a line to the door. I’ve got my caramel macchiato – only spelled right because I can see the menu – and at least an hour of battery time. In fact, this will probably be posted tonight, since I changed servers and have access to the web site 24/7. Who’s in Starbucks tonight?

My favorite type is here tonight: The Flirter. This is a guy that I used to want to be – when I was young enough – and usually tried to be, but always failed at miserably; I just came off as a nice customer. This dude is slick. He’s about 23, some kind of boy-band hair, and about 6′ tall. When I came in, he was chatting up one of the barista’s – ironically the same barista that makes one of the best mochas in the place and drives a Jeep that’s the same year as mine. She’s actually pretty adorable; it’s good to know that she’s heterosexual as so many cute women have switched lately, and I don’t mean to Apple. Tonight, she was the object of The Flirter’s affection. The Flirter was smart enough to move away from the bar when there was a surge of customers – he’s currently chatting up two other girlies that he seemed to go to school with at some point; they’re kinda cute too, so he’s batting about .863 for the night and has a 65% of getting laid before sunrise.

Then there’s The Support Group. Picture the living room full of women in Jerry McGuire, particularly the scenes when you thought they would pull apart a side of meat, if you told them it was a bull, and shove it in the nest of chairs by the door. They’ve been chatting casually, and while I don’t know that they’re womynists, my boys crawled up a good deal when I wandered past them, so at least one of them is anti-men tonight. Just passing the group now, on their way out the door, was The First Meeting/Date couple. They seemed to be hitting it off well; lots of laughing, which is a good sign, but who knows for sure. From the body language, they won’t be shacking up tonight, but there might be a dinner attempted next weekend.

In the darkest corner, by the window, is The Loner. This is the closest equivalent to a beatnik that you can find since The Beatles broke up; this guy has even got the cliche too-tight-pants and dark ribbed turtleneck sweater goin’ on – how proud would Rachel Green be that a guy can describe an article of clothing with three adjectives! He’s been hulled up in the corner for a while now, sulking and sipping a black iced coffee – mind you it’s currently 7 degrees out, -10 with the wind chill – and seems to be killing time. A woman was with him earlier in the night, but I haven’t seen her in a while, so he’s probably lonely. He’ll be lamenting the rest of the night, if I had to guess.

Last on our coffee house tour is The Third Daters. How do I know it’s the third date? No – I didn’t ask them, although I could because they’re sitting right near me. I don’t know for sure, but call it a hunch. They’re both pretty animated and talking well. They’re both sort of uncomfortable, but not enough to have just met. They’re also itching to share stories with each other, which is why I say third date; first is just awkward and second is usually trying to feel out the other person to see if there’s anything glaringly “wrong” to rule out a third date. Fourth date wouldn’t be to a coffee house – it should at least be dinner. So they’re all sorts of cute, actually – pretty amusing.

I’m going to grab some water and head back to Chapter 7 – I just thought I’d share a 20 minute moment of my life with the world, particularly because it’s not a Rant for once… next time I’ll bring a camera!