Can you buy me a coffee?
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Originally uploaded by: Elsa See World
“I still have few days”, I said to myself. This is to whether I should or should not smoke until Sunday.
After a short lazy evening watching football at Times Square, I accompanied a friend to check on her email at the Pacific Coffee in Wanchai and ordered my short vanilla latte. The thoughts of getting one short cup gave me an idea to sit on the balcony, yes they have an extension along the outside for smoking patrons, to enjoy my smoking. I told myself again that the pack I’m holding will be my last one, I said, “just one stick”.
In the nearest table where three computer terminals are located, I overheard three filipinos having a conversation about the 15 minutes timer sitting next to each of them. This is to allow costumers that a maximum of 15 minutes is set for a free usage, unless you’re holding a cup of coffee or at least a muffin, then you’ll enjoy the free service. Isn’t it rude to buy nothing when usually the first thing you do is to buy a coffee when you walk into a place?
Since I am not a fan of public computer checking on my emails, unless my laptop broke down, my friend said that initially the free service has brought in more people and I even noticed a significant change in the environment of the cafe. Although as usual, people talked to each other, strangers met each other because it seems like it becomes a ghetto place for other people who wants to pick up their “can you buy me a drink” ladies around the girlie bars. Although there are solitary activities that involves reading, talking each other or playing a scrabble, it seems that nobody talks to each other any more, as every costumer would usually find their way to the computer table. “Many of these patrons will camp six to eight hours—and not buy anything”, my friend said.
#1 Guy: “Do we really have to pay for our coffee so that we can use this damn computer for 15 minutes”?
#2 Guy: “Yes, obviously it’s obligatory unless the queue is dead, the timer can be turned off”.
#1 Guy: “What happens if there are many of us waiting and we only ordered a short latte and finish it before our turn? Do you think we can still use it?”
#3 Guy: “Probably, so don’t throw those cups away until we get one computer”.
But even before they’d get up to smoke outside, the chinese man who was using one of its computer stood up and said, “I didn’t buy my coffee to use this computer, apologies for my ignorance.” Say what? I was somewhat appalled in the corner pretending I didn’t hear that. Then he made an exit very cowardly away from the computer.
This seemed astounding to me, but I suspect that it was typical, not unusual. The staff should have to enforce the cafe’s policy of making a purchase to use the computer and that they should really approach a non-buyer about a purchase asking, “I’m sorry but you need to buy something before you can use it”.
There were other Caucasian girls sitting on the couch, which I think not holding a cup or something, one of them were signalling each other to jump on to the next available terminal. It’s just really really difficult to make a heated debates about it. It looks like already a fast-food coffeeshop than to feel staying comfortable as long as you please. If I’m going to a cafe it’s going to be for a calm atmosphere and relative peace from something else. A place to unwind. There’s no way I would feel comfortable sitting next to a bunch of people frustratingly tapping away at their keyboards. It’s very anti-social.
Back to my ‘I’m so frustrated I don’t have a computer at home’ friend, I saw her eventually grabbing the seat so desperately that she almost spilled her coffee on the keyboard while the Caucasian were seemed as if amused and gave her the ‘I don’t care if you buy a coffee’ attitude. On the left, the three guys continued discussing on the 15mins waiting time.
#1 Guy: “So it’s not compulsory to buy a coffee just to use this machine”?
It blows my mind to see that people go into a small coffee shop, and sit there for hours without buying anything, is simply ridiculous. But he’s probably right. I can even use those words he said for myself - if we can use the computer without ordering our cup of coffee, then I could just drink my cup of latte minus the smoking.
As I waited there I saw a sign on that reads: THANK YOU FOR NOT SMOKING, I realized, I was suppose to lounge away to smoke but since I was distracted for more than fifteen minutes already, the urge has eventually fades away. I’m still holding the cigarette pack with me but have not even tried flipping it.
That very precious 15 minutes wait actually saved me from smoking a stick in my mouth. I probably would have wanted a stop-watch hanging in my neck and see how long I can survive without even trying to smoke or should I say, finding my way to a nearest coffee shop using my laptop without ordering a coffee or something.
Yesterday You and I
by: Claudia Acuna
Hehe, that was close K. But you can’t bring ‘temptation’ along everywhere you go… or you might just get horny
And all this coffee talk makes me want a hot cup right now. c ya.
Who’s horny with who Asha?
And you know I’d like to stay away from the keyboard for at least a few damn hours or so since everytime I looked at my mug minus the ashtray, its hunting me like “wait, there’s something missing” but I always have the guilt in my back as I stretched out my arms and hold my “jaws”.
tito k … i know what you’re saying … when we were still in Pinas, Thomas and I would normally meet in Starbucks right after office hours before going for dinner or seeing a movie. I hate it when people actually just sit there and dont order for anything since i know they occupy a space that a paying customer has the right to use. Though in the case of that cafe you go to, it’s also debateable whether or not the terminals are open to all. Still if you are a person with breeding and ethics it would be second nature to you on what to do in this kind of situation.
Thank goodness you have your laptop back
PS: i havent smoked since 2 weeks … and now I have this nasty cough … arrrrrrghhh!
Exactly.
Well I wouldn’t mind if I find you sitting at the McDonalds without ordering something. But even so, many people in a bunch would come to buy a large french fries over a big table and eat them together, at least. It’s my past-time place. We never know, maybe sooner in time, McDonalds will eventually copy Starbucks with big couches since they are now promoting coffee & other sweet nibblers. I kinda like their hot chocolates and the staff are nicer than the ones at the Pacific Coffee.
Quit now or die later! I have 2 days left to go. Happy weekend Ms Grace.
lounge away to smoke huh? how many sticks did you have in mind?
answer me dammit!
I have self-control ‘puffing’ in an outdoor place unless it’s in the bar. My carbon monoxide intake (as if my lungs are so proud to even say it) is getting useless by day. I would normally smoke during the morning to the bathroom and now I made a progress - it was zero plus coffee.
When I’m out with friends, I usually just show it off but not sniffin like a moron. But whenever I blog, it’s the habit of keeping my mug hot side by side with the ciggie pack. So okay, I’m blaming the blogging habit but one day, I’ll change it - I might be blogging once a week in the morning and see the effect of smoking.
i’m a starbucks person, that’s actually an \extension of my office. Woon as i enter the baristas would guess what i’ll order this time (nice folks at rockwell) and if i use my laptop i make sure i leave some “tip” on the bowl…
one rainy afternoon i tambayed at the old bar “the pit” (dapit, short for “dapitan” near ust) i thought i discovered the best tasting coffee…i asked the waiter what flavor he served me yun pala Nescafe 3-in-1 instant coffee. ngyahaha. the best!
Bwahahaha Ten - that was funny.
I’m an avid fan of 3 in 1 coffee, really. The fact that I love it, is that it helps me stop adding too much sugar made from my ‘presser’. You can call me a coffee lover but honestly, I don’t know much about coffee beans but maybe learning a little bit help me get a perfect cup every time. At starbucks, I normally put less sugar or rather not at all since Caramel Machiatto or a Vanilla flavour is already making it sweet.
I don’t mind having a 3 in 1 at all, it’s still a perfect coffee, at least for me.
horny? D’oh!
I always ask myself the same question Asha. I believe that people who post frequently in the beginning would end up giving up their blog easily while those who pace themselves will last longer. I find it quite interesting to know that the blogosphere is growing at a geometric pace, it’s easy to make a blog, however people would be stucked up in such a pace and the willingness to write hasn’t changed much at all - then some people would stop writing for a much longer time.
I think overdoing your blog can be very tiring. I mean I do love to post everyday, it’s just that I find myself too abusive with the “PUBLISH” button but imagine every second somebody is creating a new blog. I wonder what they eat for breakfast. What I mean is, I don’t know yet, well just stand on by and see how this thing works.
On the contrary, can I resist the blogging addiction?
Smoking is hazardous to your health. Well, on others too. I used to smoke ya know. But I just can’t break my addiction to coffee
It’s part of our culture na siguro. I had this recollection during the old days when our grannies makes coffee out of rice? We called them “kapeng bigas”. What made the coffee special was that it was made from roasted uncooked rice grains. I love this kind of coffee in the morning lalo na with pandesal and my granny still make one of these in Bicol. Ang sarap!
addictions are hard to break but if you have the wilpower…anything goes! My current addictions are coffee, kodak moments with my digi cam and korean soap dramas! and I doubt I’ll be giving up on any of them at the moment. I’m with you about blogging…I may slow down a bit as well
have a great weekend K and be nice to Ginger…:lol:
In Philippines, my mom is a Korean soap drama addict. It’s being dubbed in tagalog and the first time I watched it, I find it so weird. Here in HK, I think the Korean hour soap has started a few months ago and it’s with the english sub-titles. I’m sorry but I just can’t follow this trend.
I will blog a little bit than usual if I have the chance to talk something else than whining.
Ginger needs a real bath in a cat-salon. He’s causing me a lot of trouble nowadays because of the hot weather - and I keep sneezing all the time. He’s old and I think I can’t keep him in the flat any longer before I suffer from asthma without smoking.
Have you ever tried going off the internet for a significant amount of time, like let’s say a week. No emails, blogging, nada, no downloads.
I tried it. Its weird. You do stuff instead. Like work out and stuff. I find that with internet access, My thoughts tend to be a bit less focused that without. I know that if I’m looking for something or wanting some piece of information, I’m directly logged in and look for it. Where if I don’t have access, the information seeking becomes more orderly. I try to find answers by myself, organizing my query.
Thanks range. I’m great - I just needed a space for this new changes, I’m getting in there so close that I even tried not to blog for a day and see how I score. Blogging is now part of my routines, infact it’s quite a challenge for me to blog on a weekly basis in order for me to slowly cut the smoking. I have been proud the other day that I didn’t smoke in two days even if I set myself by Sunday.
What scares me is that quitting the smoking is starting to make me dull to even post an entry. I’m hanging in here and it’s nearing the downhill portion. I just keep reminding myself how far I’ve come and sooner or later, when I feel a lot better, my lungs will be applauding for bravery and sense. So I’m busy with reading books I took from work and bought few “fake” DVD’s just to be away from the monitor for a while, it helps tho. BTW thanks for the great visit.
Would watching the World Cup be a good substitute for smoking, K?
Range, that’s not a bad idea but I think K might be better at blogging or surfing the blogosphere as a substitute for smoking. Just a guess, K, so no offence intended! I’m trying to find techniques for you to quit smoking!
Jack Yan, I’m watching the World Cup, but delayed. I’m still on Wednesday’s matches. It’s like I’m on a news embargo. Nothing spoils a match more than knowing who wins. You have to be really careful.
No problem at all. I found a new substitute Jack, like the one I said to range, I borrowed books from work and I will be reading novels entirely because when your mind tend to get busy, it makes you forget that time is passing. I’m keeping a gum just in case. That’s great! I’ll try to get busy, to find something to distract the urge.
It’s always inspiring to see the support for people who wants to quit smoking. Imagine yourself to deal with the withdrawal symptoms and the psychological aspect of it, it’s always not easy but at least I’m trying and doing the best I can.
I told myself again that the pack I’m holding will be my last one, I said, “just one stick”.
What, WhAt , wHaT , WHAAAAT!?!
No! ‘just one more stick’ will become, ‘just one more stick per day’, and then it’ll become ‘just 2 sticks’
But anyway I’m glad that you got distracted in the end. :p
What about going to those internet service shops? You pay specifically to use the internet for a period of time. No need to make anymore fuss over having to buy drinks or people pretending (or not) to be dumb.
No Mam, not wanting that kind of ambience. Not good for me. I’ll keep busy with other things instead than beg to have a semi-private time at a net-shop.
I just recently upgraded my service. I have gotten up to 1.5MB/s. I think I can get up to 10MB/s. I couldn’t live without it now.
I’m kinda lost there.
hehe blaming blogging for smoking ha. sige na nga!
Sure you can. It makes us forget to do the laundry, to do homework, to take a shower, to cook for ourselves. Blogging is worst than smoking I guess, besides it makes us do the same crap we always did: we read and now instead of blabbing about it, we sit down and write about it, then hit send and we blab to the world. Then we keep coming back to see who makes a comment, and we started to surf and click the links in our blogroll, etc. It eats our time a lot, don’t you think?
But why I’m saying this? Because I’m trying to quit on my smoking and I want to know if blogging is part of this addiction too. I never been on a very long hiatus, I recalled it was just for a week when my laptop was broken but I never really thought of giving up the blog (at least for the meantime). I’ve told everyone that as long as there is a readership and even if it slowly creeps up, I’ll continue.
tito k … yuhu … where are you?
Tita G, you should know better hahaha. I’m just right here. I have never done my bloghopping, I’m a semi-fan of this rituals but I’ll give it a go since I admire people who speaks up in my comments and I will always return a favor even if it’s late. I read a lot of blogs that relates to “How are you today, what makes you sad or happy” kind of blogs - whereas I think you should do that on your blog. If you’re using wordpress.com I guess you’ll enjoy the writing and guarantee you’ll love it.
hey k…remember that I told you that i’ll bring you another reader
it’s her.. http://malditabratinella.blogspot.com/ 
she’s moving to singapore from phillipines. oh pfftt..you already got her on your links LOL
btw…will be travelling next week again. another job. so won’t be visiting for awhile
Well good on you. Whenever I hear travelling, it makes me feel like I’m the only one in this world who works so hard and whine about what my day went. Even if it is a job you dislike, at least you’re going away and get busy. I want that kind of thing.
Yeah I’ve checked on my “who is” (I never have done it until you told me) and found her site. She seemed a bit shy I guess to even leave me a note so I initiates. Have you two met since she’s now in the big S of P (SingaPore)?
Like you, Range, my World Cup matches are delayed as well and I tend to hear the results beforehand.
K, great to see you have distractions planned! This could be so incredibly great for you in expanding your knowledge and horizons.
K, its really fast, my internet.
Jack, on the World Cup, I’m on a news embargo, I don’t read the sports pages or the some news sites. I think I’m on Thursday or Friday right now
K!Time’s up!Are you a smoker or no longer a smoker?
Range, when you say you are on a news embargo, are you specifically avoiding the news?
I tend not to read newspapers but the TV and radio news do come on and I am too tired to do anything about it at that hour!
And C.: good question! We are here for you, K, and as your friends, we won’t judge you one way or another.
That’s right K.!Jack is right.
If you can’t give up,i won’t judge…and i am sure Jack and everyone else won’t do it.You’ll always be for us the K who’s chansing his cat with the knife.Lmao!
But you know,delaying to enjoy the poison can only keep you in and divert you from doing the right thing.
Try….trying for a day and if it isn’t working…then it isn’t.
I am challanging you,K!
And K,i don’t know if i said it already,but i love the way you write.Especially this entry.
tito k … super tamad to learn how to shift to wordpress … any tips on how i could easily transfer data from current to wordpress?
girl… blessing int the sky sila hahahaah (disguise). love yah k miss u!
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