Sitting at a coffee shop, staring out the window, I can see a small part of the world. My small world of brick walls, wooden chairs, and steamed milk and espresso is beaming with people. There is no better place in the world to ponder life, write, or people watch.

In my coffee shop world, I can map stories onto strangers. There’s a guy sitting in the corner of the shop, he looks hard at work. Yet, something is wrong. In my head, his screen is filled with help wanted ads and applications, staring at each like he has everything to lose. A man and a women sit by the window sill. While she stares at her phone, he can’t stop staring at her. In three months, she’ll find someone new and he’ll question what went wrong. When looking at strangers and creating their stories, I realize that they might be doing the same to me. To them, I might be typing a paper or chatting with friends. Strangers can create strange stories.

At a coffee shop, I ponder what if. What if I had stayed best friends with my childhood best friend? What if I had fell in love with science, not writing? What if I had chosen to go to my second choice college? With each what if scenario, a new life fills in my head. All this over one 16 ounce coffee.

When I look at the area outside, I can’t help but to think of the walks I took there. It's hard not to think of the moments that happened in places that are now vacant. It feels like someone else’s memory, but I know it’s all mine. Five minutes and roughly a five dollar cup of coffee later, the park doesn’t seem as vacant.

A number of silly thoughts come to mind. A guy is wearing a “Ask me about my sport’s team” shirt, what would he do if I actually asked him? Or the fact that there is a mirror on the wall, but I’m much too short to see myself in it. Two birds are chasing each other outside the window. Are they fighting, flirting, or just playing? Now I’m imagining a bird family in their nest. I don’t know how I got here. Videos of animals being rescued and cute cats dance across my computer screen. I glance at the cute animal video on my computer, look up possible cats to adopt, and realize I’m not allowed to have one. It’s a shame really.

Coffee shops are cornucopias of thought. Whether those thoughts are deep or frivolous, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if they are wrong or right. People don’t just sit for hours in coffee shops because of the catchy music they occasionally tune into. Some come to share time with others and laugh, while others come be “focused”. Coffee shops are businesses, but act as the catalyst of personal and interpersonal thought beyond the surface.