One More Cup of Coffee

Maybe I haven't been to Bruntsfield in a while, but I had yet to notice this coffee shop on Bruntsfield Place until today.

I always wonder about the stories behind the people who sit alone in coffee shops. Why do they need their caffeine fix? Is it to perk them up in the morning, in a way that a glass of orange juice or water just can't achieve? Alternatively, is it to rejuvenate them after a hard day at work, and to make them ready for the coming challenges of dinner and social events? Is it to escape the cold streets and the drizzle that regularly taunt the city during the start of the year? Or is it simply a habit that they have developed, an escape that they get every day for ten, twenty minutes, where they can truly be quiet and at one with themselves?

In addition, my mind always asks how all these small coffee houses can afford to keep running. In a five minute walk up the same street, I passed Black Medicine, Costa, Chocolate Tree, Peckhams, Project Coffee, Falko Konditormeister and Starbucks. All offering variations on the same theme. How many people at one time can really need the pungent dark liquid?

As someone who doesn't drink coffee or any hot drinks, I always wonder how people can afford their daily dose. Apparently the average cup purchased in Starbucks comes to £2.10. Consuming even one of these a day for a week would be the same as purchasing a crew neck from Topman, a DVD from HMV or half a weekly shop in Tesco.

I think I'll stick to tap water for now, thanks.