Coffee Anyone?

As a self-styled bloke, I am a natural fan of "The International Rules of Blokedom" (Google it for details). One of the 2 additions that I have sought to make to this list of interesting rules is- "A Bloke shall not be seen in a coffee bar post sundown". (there is another on bacardi-drinking men but more on that later). Frankly, for a long time I never saw reason to visit say Barista pre sundown either. Domestic pressures around numerous flanks have prompted a climbdown in stance albeit with the Blokedom Rule remaining intact. One such visit was to "Gloria Jeans Coffee" in the neighbourhood over the weekend.

As we neared the cafe (with its Devnagiri signage if you please), we encountered a couple purposefully strolling in armed with a book each in hand. I was a trifle perplexed at the need to catch up on reading in a public place over a weekend but there was a first in store after all. It was my first glimpse of a hard-bound P G Wodehouse. At the risk of sounding tacky, I guess "coffee-table books" have given way to "coffee shop editions". Having placed our order, we seated ourselves in the outdoor section of the cafe since all the seats inside were taken by similar couples deeply engrossed in "reading".

I noticed a long-haired, bearded gent (mysteriously, 70% of all men in coffee shops seem to wear beards) gesticulating wildly with his arms. Initially, I thought he was trying to indicate an open door or a wobbly tyre to a motorist opposite. To my amazement, he was actually practicing (or maybe "composing") a music score! It seemed as if noisy automobiles whizzing past him whilst honking away to glory, did wonders for his concentration. Or perhaps, the positive creative energy that a cafe's ambience generates is completely lost on me.

More was in store. In walked a bald gent sporting a mane inspired directly by Professor Calculus. Just as I was reconciling to his err, "unusual" appearance, I noticed he was not fully bald after all. At the rear of his head, there lay a carefully cropped, square tuft of hair ostensibly as his trademark style statement!

I could go on and on about the number of bizarre sights and sounds that I encountered in a mere 45 minutes. But lets come to the point. Firstly, my blokedom rule stands reinforced with the rider around sundown too being deleted. Second, coffee bars join the long list of impressive marketing stories that have succeeded in creating an intellectual imagery around themselves. Gone are the college kids lounging around over numerous cappucinos for the sake of being in air-conditioned environs. Weird souls with a crying need to publicize their intellectual pretensions seem to have taken over, at least part of the space.

A caveat- I retain rights to think of myself as a bloke despite future trips to coffee bars. A little hypocrisy is well worth it for the sake of domestic bliss.