Coffee in Place

It is silly to walk holding a cup of coffee or soda or fruit shake in your hand. Silly.  As silly as walking downstairs with your hands in your pocket. You may well need your hand. Not to fend off an attack from someone with a lance and shield. Not to deflect a ball coming at you, nor to block a piece of plywood loosed off a roof by a sudden wind.

Those are rare.  But a sudden slip, or a fool, or a slight branch, or a particular fine detail that you can best explain with your fingers, or a caution to something suddenly ahead. They do come up, and your hand is the first of you to it. To keep your hands free — the counter to my hands are full.

You will say, but I am off to work, or I love to drink my coffee slowly, it is my stroll. And ask me, you are kidding, right? But no, the coffee cup in your hand is a sort of contemporary, awkward version of smoking a Marlboro cigarette. It sets you up as a particular — it has a style, and a labor and a form and a distinct signal. Today, you are modern — a cellphone and a cup of coffee. Cosmopolitan and busy, thank you. In a sense, both the phone and the cup have a separateness.

Go back, for a moment, to the original espresso/cappuccino culture, to Italy itself. No Italian would ever waste a hand to carry a coffee cup, except to the table. And never to walk the street. If an Italian is strolling with a paper cup, then they are amusingly being an American tourist and trying to fit in. It was in Firenze, at a lovely coffee shop, that they all laughed and said, but you must drink your caffe here, in proper cup and saucer. Good morning.

As Umberto said, from his shop, it is a heartbreak to even have to order the paper cups and lids. We do so much, each day, to make the shop a place for you to enjoy and sit. People will see each other, we can share, or you can have a quiet moment. The coffee was not meant to go – this is your break from your work. Look out at the trash cans as you walk, they are all full with cups and those lids.

In the 90s, I proposed to the only Mayor I would know, Paul Schell, that he consider a bill to limit the sale of coffee to go in the urban core. He was amused, noting it may well have been my dumbest yet idea, but he went along and asked, why would we do this? I gave him three reasons. One, that the city would then see him every day, sitting in a coffee shop – he would learn a bit and they would learn a bit. Two, it would cut back on trash. And three, it would make the Mayor and the city famous, literally world famous. Everyone would know, when you come to Seattle, you must sit and drink your coffee, in place. The outdoor seating would soar, and the sense of the downtown would gain an intimacy, even authenticity.

I also proposed to Starbucks that they designate two of their best downtown locations to be a sort of haut couture version — a tribute to their original inspiration, a coffee shop in Milano. Do not offer coffee to go in the two shops, minimize the menu, and make it a place to come, and sit. 

None of this came to pass, of course, but this is a new era and the times are changing. Twenty people a day come to the bookshop holding coffee cups and always, they are very gracious to set them outside. My staff all come with cups of things, rushing to be on time. Slowly, I shall convince them. A time on the other side of paper cups. 

The insight is your hand. If I can make it clear — how suited it is to have your hands free. To drink your caffe in place. Good morning.