Working in public places is comical. Going stir crazy after remainig in doors for the last 10 frigid days, I got brave this morning. I ventured out of my cozy, productivty cove called a home office and decided to visit a local wifi laden coffee shop.
Getting out into the fresh air was great. Getting some work done in a different venue was also great; it totally jogs my creative brain. Watching people in this coffee shop though, that was worth the price of admission (the cost of the tea).
Here is a run down of the types of people an innocent Digital Nomad may run into during an excursion to the hangout of peers and in some cases wannabees.
1. Mr. Hard Core — This guy sits at a table in the corner and faces the corner. All you can see, and do see for hours, is his elbows and tapping foot. He’s either on deadline, playing a game, or reading a novel on his laptop because you don’t and won’t see him stand, smile, or move - for anything.
2. The Flirt — Fun but unproductive. The flirt has no business aside from sending notes to her Facebook cronies. She sits in a spot where she has an eagle’s eye view of everyone else so she can locate the guy she’ll tease for the next two hours. In fact, she is sitting to the right of me at this moment, writing in a tablet. Everytime I glance over there, I catch her peering over here. It’s totally distracting! Of course, if I was 20 and unmarried, I’d have a different view of this.
3. The Writer — There is always one, in this case, perhaps it’s me. Therefore, the writer is the coolest guy in the place. Typing without looking at the keys, laughing out loud at what he’s writing, and occasionally staring into space while trying to think of a word.
4. The Sales Reps — Everyone in this place is dressed down except for the 2 twenty-five year old guys wearing suits. They are sitting behind me right now and I hear that these guys are pharmaceutical sales reps. One is obviously a manager because he is kissing some serious butt and somewhat defensive to questions surrounding his performance. Nevertheless, these two are dressed for success and absolutely able to tell you how great they are. Note: If you are deep in the city, the ratio of suits to non-suits is a lot different.
5. Mr. Ignorant — This guy is irritating if the place is packed. This guy comes in and takes up two tables with his PC, coat, other gear, etc. He then goes into his backpack and actually pulls out an extension cord so he can plug in his laptop. Sure you can ask him to move his stuff, but still, who does this?
6. The Interviewee — Hey, let’s meet at Starbucks and I can interview you for my latex sales position. This poor, poor, guy. An interview in progress is like watching a slow motion train wreck. As the interviewer fires an endless amount of questions, the interviewee answers the questions as 20 people watch. Everyone around you knows you are interviewing and it’s almost impossible not to watch.
This is only the tip of the iceberg; there are loads of characters at these places. Although people watching, the art of sitting and watching people’s behavior without getting caught, is fun for the whole family. Choose your ‘get stuff done’ spot wisely! By their nature, Digital Nomads are supremely productive but distraction abounds.
Image courtesy of bellafer* via Flickr
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Nomad Contributors
Awesome post, because it’s so true. If I can add one myself.
The Code Monkey
The code monkey is a creature of habit. He’s camped out by the electric outlets with the drink he’s been ordering for the past 7 months. Though physically present, he’s never quite there because he’s jumping from crisis to crisis juggling 3 flashing IM boxes, 5 email accounts and the ice storm that took down his data center in Oklahoma. The code monkey can make a database do jumping jacks but can’t match clothing to save his life.
Is there anyone in the cafe actually just drinking coffee anymore?
I’d like to hear a similar post from a namad on a bus wi-fi system!