Inquisitively, a young man posted a spontaneous question on his social media platform and it instantly went viral.
“What is the nature of the job that allows people to work from Starbucks in the morning whilst having their favorite foamy cup of coffee?” he curiously wondered. With his post going swiftly viral, I realized that most people including myself were looking for answers for one of life’s greatest dilemmas. Who are these people whose work-space literally look like an unrealistic cover photo from a posh magazine? Are they normal people like us? And if they are, where on earth do they find jobs like these?
Since I’m very curious by nature, I insisted on paying Starbucks a visit and imposing myself on people working there, to get an answer to the secret I couldn’t seem to figure out.
The minute I arrived at Starbucks in Downtown Fifth Settlement, I spotted a dapper young man in his mid-thirties enjoying his double espresso cup of coffee and of course, with a laptop in front of him. But as they say, life isn’t always fair! This young man had a business that failed and had lost a huge amount of money. So like a boss, he was now scouting for jobs. How deceiving pictures on the internet can be, am I right? You think someone is running a fancy online business and lounging around drinking coffee, when in reality they’re really just trying to make ends meet.
The second person I approached was a nice lady. “Hi, excuse me, can I ask you a simple question,” I asked politely. “What line of work are you in that allows you to work at Starbucks?” With a sarcastic smile on her face, she told me: “Well darling, I just took a day off from school. I work as a teacher and I was more or less about to lose my mind. So I decided to work from Starbucks today and gave myself a little break.” I thanked her for her time and wished her good luck.
My third encounter actually made me smile and reminded me of my university days. I located a twenty- something year old girl with her eyes fixated on her laptop. She looked somewhat anxious but that didn’t stop me. I asked her the same question I asked the others but apparently, I had picked the wrong timing. This clever young lady was still in university and was checking her grades, however, she decided to take this matter outside her home, so her mom wouldn’t see her panicking.
My last nosy endeavor was actually insightful. I came across a freelance graphic designer, who graduated four years ago and had been freelancing ever since. He explained to me that his working space for the last four years have been Starbucks and Espresso Lab. Catching the envy and wish-fullness in my eyes, he said: “I know it looks pretty cool that I work from a coffee shop but believe me it’s not any easier or more fun than what most people do. If what concerns you is your monotonous working space, what concerns me is instability. It’s a comprehensive package with its pros and cons, and everyone gets to choose.”
I walked out, seemingly content with my field research.
As I headed back to the office I felt a sense of safety and comfort wash over me. I went up the elevator, shut my door and began to write.
