I found a new coffee shop. Apparently, it’s going to fit reasonably well. I have three, now, and am scouting a fourth. Different hours, different times, different purposes. The least comfortable contrasts are generations and subcultures. All but one appear to be haunts for the young and the young middle class – the conformists. They still think some things are weird, and fear finds their faces easily, fear of being touched by the unknown. So many hippy outfits, but underneath is a kind of fascism. The other is more of a hippie place, with lots of older people, and it’s far more accepting, with a wider latitude for the bizarre. Of course that can be a mixed blessing. But it’s like home-cooked food, or dining at a mom and pop place – you expect unpredictability and inconsistency, and it’s part of why you like it. The rest is the Starbucks impulse.
