Go to a crowded public place (not one of your classrooms, though) and be a fly on the wall. Just watch. What's going on? Set that scene.

I grab an iced coffee and head over to a small wooden circular table, placed in front of a bench, which is affixed to the wall. I bring a notebook and a textbook, so I can people watch incognito. I’m sitting in a locally owned café, which is right next to a Starbucks and on the same block as a Peet’s. The quality of coffee is better than these chain stores; but the atmosphere is completely the same, filled with students, business professionals, and those leisurely enjoying their lattes.

To my right sits a man with his laptop. He’s chatting away with someone online, with his headphones plugged into his compact computer. From the bits of conversation I pick up, I believe he is talking to a business associate. He’s having a house cappuccino, based on the glass I observe him drinking from, with a heaping amount foam. I hear him dryly attempt a few jokes and then he swiftly gets up and leaves the coffee shop. The meeting must have come to an end.

At my 1 o’clock are two mothers with their two small children. They are trying to settle themselves into a bench on the opposite side of the café. Before they can sit and enjoy their coffee, they must find a place for their strollers and situate their babies. Their lonely coffees are waiting for them, getting colder by the minute.

Across the room and to my left, are several people sitting alone with their laptops, eyes glued to their computer screens. Everyone pecking away, focused on their work.  One college age male is clearly working on homework, nervously tugging one and chewing the drawstrings of his navy blue “Cal” sweatshirt.

I find it funny that no one else is sitting with a book and notebook.