Your Favorite Spot

The CEO of PubCo likes to tell this story about how he one day went to a university campus for some meetings and saw some "signs" that universities are alive and well. He thought that construction sites on campus were a sign that the university had money and were growing. Seeing tours and kids going through orientation was a sign that, yes, kids are still going to college. And melting bikes (that is, those bikes that are left behind during spring vacation and sort of "melt" into the asphalt) are a sign of...hmm. I don't remember. Even though I've heard this story twice, I still don't get the melting bikes thing.

Well, today, sadly, I'm visiting a university campus. As I'm still trying to do my best at PubCo until the judgment is handed down on culinary school, I'm spending the next three days visiting professors, asking what they're teaching and researching, and whether they might be interested in writing a book. It's one of the most important parts of my job since it involves prospecting, but it's also my least favorite. Especially now, when I know (I hope) I'll be leaving in a matter of months. But I'm doing my best.

For lunch, I've parked myself on a couch at the Starbucks located in the business school building, and I've been watching the students in and out of the cafe. Every single kid is doing at least one of the following: talking on a cell phone, using a laptop, listening to an iPod. I can write about the technology takeover (I don't see anyone reading a print book), but that's not what's interesting to me.

This Starbucks seems to be a favorite haunt for some people, in the same way every other Starbucks is for others. There's a girl behind me tutoring another girl on her computer, and she was tutoring someone else a few minutes ago. Two guys just walked in and went immediately to the free water station and left without ordering coffee. One girl has been here long enough to warrant going to the register a second time (I missed the first time, but she's been here longer than me). The kids behind the register (and they really are kids) are loud and laugh a lot when the line has been dealt with.

Even though it's in a different state and on a university campus, it still feels familiar to me. It's the same green aprons, the same not great, but consistently good enough coffee, the same drink names being yelled out. You can go to a Starbucks in Paris and you would find the same thing (although, why would you?). It makes me think of home, in a weird little way.

This is not to say that my future bakery is going to become a global brand with homogenous locations all over the world. But it is to say that Starbucks has done a pretty good job of becoming a comfortable and safe spot and that's something to admire.

It begs the question: What's your favorite home-away-from-home restaurant or cafe? Why? Is it the ambience? The people you meet? The fact that they allow dogs? And if you don't have a favorite spot, why not? What would make you commit?

So that's what I got from my campus trip today. And I didn't see any melting bikes.