My Space

I am a frequent visitor of coffee shops. They are my preferred place for study. They provide an opportunity for uninterrupted work and once in awhile there is opportunity for meaningful dialogue with an employee or other frequent visitor.

There are several important ingredients to a good coffee shop:

Good coffee or tea & perhaps a pastry

Space to work

Free Internet access

Access to electrical outlets – to power the computer

There is one coffee shop that has a table somewhat isolated. It is a great place to study without interruption. It is “my space.” I have used it enough that several of the employees recognize it as my space. A few months ago the manager was working in “my space” and moved to another table when he saw me come in.

The problem is that not all customers recognize it as “my space.” This week I walked in and someone was in my space. I had to find another table with an electrical outlet nearby.

This morning I went to a different coffee shop. All of the tables with electrical outlets nearby were taken by other people with computers. How insensitive – using all of the spaces and not leaving one for me. In any coffee shop, I have come to assume that at least one of the tables with an outlet should be mine. I don’t understand why all these other people with computers have to use “my space” when I need it.

It is almost a sense of entitlement. Because I need space, electrical power and internet access, I should be able to walk into a coffee shop and plug in. Then I began to wonder how many times other computer users have walked in and felt that I was in their space.

I am thankful for those coffee shops that have free Internet access – who welcome people to work in their space. I want to remember that their generosity is an act of grace and not my right. I want to bless them for providing some space for me and for others who want or need to work while sipping a cup of coffee.