(last edited on April 29, 2014 at 1:27 am)
Yesterday’s bout of grogginess turned out to be actual tiredness; after taking a long nap in the afternoon, I felt much better and stayed up to about midnight. And lo, the next morning i woke up just a few minutes before the alarm went off! After brushing my teeth, the phone rang and I spent several minutes trying to answer it before I realized I was actually dreaming; it was the alarm blaring in my ear. Oops. Still, I was quite well rested, so I did some exercise, and headed out to the coffee shop.
I had been hoping that regular morning visits to the same coffee shop would change my perspective on the world. Ordinarily, I’m looking for patterns in behavior or concepts, but now that I’m at the same shop in the morning I’m wondering what patterns observed over time will become obvious. Here’s some observations I’ve made over the past few days, grossly generalizing of course:
- The 7-8AM crowd has a much different demeanor than the 10AM crowd. The impression I had, very generally, was that these people had time to take 15 minutes or more to ease into their day. Some read newspapers. Others just chatted quietly. Yet, this was not a relaxed atmosphere. It felt like I was surrounded by seasoned athletes who were getting ready to run a practice race, and this was their way of limbering up without any drama. I actuallly ran into an old client of a company I used to work at, a fellow who had always impressed me with his vision of customer service and organizational empowerment. He was surprised to see me up so early, and we exchanged pleasantries. It occurred to me that he is the quintessential early riser, poised and in control of his time, ready to lead his company like he does every day.
The 8-9AM crowd seems more in a hurry, and tend to come into the store in bursts. They line up in front of the counter, by now fully marshalled by the morning crew leader, and are served their cups of coffee with impressive efficiency. I imagined that some of these people had deliberately chosen not to use the drive-through window, because the act of spending a bit of time in a store and savoring that first sip of expensive coffee was the extent of their ritual. It is a small luxury, to take a few minutes on the way to work and buy some nice coffee before starting another hectic day at work.
The 9-10AM crowd is more relaxed, because for them their day has already started; they aren’t stopping-in on the way somewhere else. The coffee shop is an actual destination for people are getting settled in to have a business conversation with their partners, perhaps preparing for a meeting or client visitation. A few others haul out laptops and quickly get absorbed in their work. Still other people are waiting to meet other people, perhaps an informal interview or introduction, and sip their coffee while looking out the window.
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p>On this particularly day, the morning people seemed to be quiet yet alert, compared to the late-night crowd I’m normally part of. I suppose it could be that the day was still young and full of possibility, and this was reflected in the way people seemed to smile. It was like I was visiting some alternate reality, though the experience reminded me also of the couple times I’ve visited Canada; people there seem to be more aware of who’s around them, quite conscious of how their actions could affect you and taking care not to make that an inconvenience.
I also got to see a mysterious pickup truck that had a box built about three feet high above the rear bed, insert with barred openings. It looked like a truck used to transport animals or something. I had seen the very same truck on Monday; apparently, this coffee shop is part of the driver’s morning ritual. There’s a good chance I’ll see it again tomorrow. And so my morning world starts to become a little more real.
9 Comments
Out of curiosity, is this coffee shop a DD? I don’t know of any other coffee joints in Boston with a drive-through service… :)
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Nope, not a DD! I live somewhat north of Boston, so there’s room for things like drivethroughs :-)
Definitely not a Dunkin – NO ONE at DD would be as relaxed as some of the folks he is describing. Starbucks, if I had to guess….
One tip I would add. You would probably be less groggy if you exercise in the middle of your “low point”, which in my case is mid-afternoon a couple hours after lunch. Aerobic activity can give a jolt of energy for several hours.
Napping is also helpful. I use Pzizz occasionally and can rack out in my car for 20 minutes and feel pretty refreshed.
Griff
That’s pretty cool. I tend to be a part of the 9 – 10 am croud, though coffee isn’t my thing. I’m usealy meeting with clients, or working on my laptop between meetings. The crazy thing is, I live in Houston, TX, but you still hit the nail on the head with your description. Small world.
I’ve started the same routine, actually. I love it. One of my favourite things about living/travelling in Spain is watching the rhythm of the day—specifically the fact that most people will go INTO a café instead of just grabbing coffee to slurp on the street. So I’ve started to do the same thing up here in TO. I used to be a bed—>shower—>commute—>work kind of person, and, like you, now I feel like I’ve discovered a whole new part of the day.
Congrats on your routine. I have now been successfully getting up every morning 6am and 7am without an alarm for about a year. I allow myself the chance to go downstairs, make a pot of coffee, read a magazine, a book chapter, or even just sit in the living room and watch the rain.. (like this morning). My wife is not an early riser, and many times gets up at 11am. by then, I have already gotten intot he daily rhythm of my day, list of items to do, then email, then blog and rss, then project work.
What i found was that i am much more productive when i have MY time in am. Even though i have a client base on the east coast (cali boy here) I have let my clients know that i am available at 10am. They completely respect my day plan. Thanks for describing your efforts. It is helping me know figure out where to make room for exercise, other than the long walk to the coffee pot.
I’ve never been an early rise, and neither has my girlfriend.
We started BootCamp (a 4 week fitness program) a month ago. Having to get up at 5.15, throwing on a t-shirt and shorts and running out the door for an hour of pain has really changed our mindset.
It took us a while to get used to, but we’ve now found this whole new part of the day, get some good exercise done and still have the rest of the day to fill up.
Keep at it David. Great reading about your experience with this.
Cheers,
Carl
I worked at Starbucks for awhile when I was younger. We would open at 6am, and the first hour was quiet with a mix of early commuter power people, early morning cheery-get-up-and-go people, end of graveyard shift zombies, and early shift mall workers on break. Every once in awhile someone would just come in and read. The early-early morning people would read the best books of the day. Then the commuter rush would come on strong until about 9, when the walk-a-moms would congregate. The walk-a-moms would read the worst books. But they always flirted.