~docdolly

Coffee in the City (an inspiring chronicle)

Isn’t it great that websites such as Friendster and Myspace allows you to write in almost anything that comes into your mind? Anyway, I was just passing by surfing the Net as usual when I came across one of my friend’s logins. My fellow medical comrade and team mate, Maik, made a very interesting journal regarding the shallowness of the people that swing by Starbucks or any coffee establishment for that matter.

I myself laughed as I read her very inspiring comments regarding the absurdity of some people who inhabit such local places. Being a bit of a copycat myself, I decided to go all out on my experiences on such just like Candance Bushnell did for Sex & the City.

Even though New York and Manila are two entirely different cities, I marvel at how superficial some people can be at my own hometown. In which I dub these files as….Coffee in the City.

File number One: The Dirty Old Blue Men

I was with my friends, Ella, Joseph, and Tin Tin and we were up all night cramming for our exam in the Endocrine module at Seattle’s Best Coffee near St. Luke’s Hospital. We were minding our own beeswax when suddenly, a group of middle aged men came in and took their seats beside our table.

Apparently, they had just came from their highschool or college reunion. One of them was clad in an exclusive school jersey, whose name I dare not mention as many would be offended. They were boisterous, arrogant, and unmindful of the people nearby who were trying to absorb the remnants of information they could acquire for the night’s study. Each of them were bragging about how their son or daughter had made it to the institution or had received honors.

One of them remarked about how pretty the salesladies at Landmark and that they looked better than his wife. I on the other hand, thought about my own father, that even though no matter how grumpy and stingy he is with money, I still loved him and would have him as he is compared to the chumps who were seated beside me. Plus, as mean as I might sound, my dad’s an alumni for the men’s rival alma matter which made me so proud of my father and how the school’s name and reputation didn’t get into his head.

File Number 2: The Child Star at Starbucks

I was having a smoke with my friend Colby at Starbucks 6750 when she nudged me and said that some teen star was seated at a table near us. I turned my head to look at the young girl who herself, was sharing her table with a young man and they were smoking blue seal cigarettes all the while seemingly indulging their lattés. Apparently this teen star came from a hit teen TV show that was perhaps the Filipino equivalent of Dawson’s Creek. This unnamed starlet and her friend were in a heated discussion regarding the upgrade of her fancy vehicle. I shudder to listen to such petty talk, but her voice was resonant and very audible that I could not help but overhear. For a minute there I thought that she was with her boyfriend. It turns out that she wasn’t. Two years later, she ended her relationship with her partner.


File no 3

The Obnoxious Medical Student part I

Saturday Night. As usual the tables at Seattle’s Best E.Rod were filled with the usual inhabitants. There were those who came by just the have coffee and catch up with the day’s socializing hour. There were the medical students who had to just finish the last of their studying with hopes that they would pass their upcoming dreaded exams.

And of course, there were the obnoxious medical students. You’ve probably met the type. They are the ones who lounge easily by the smoking area, bragging to their fellow medical comrades that there was no need to slave over the books as things came easily for them. I had come across such one who was still a freshman at surprisingly my own alma matter, UERM. He and his friend were at the smoking lounge discussing how easy histology and physiology came for him as he had taken both subjects while he was in pre-med. I marveled at this boy’s overconfidence and clearly wondered if he would feel the exact same way when he reached the pathological part of his studies.

As it is, there is no room for error in the field of medicine. I, in my part, know that medicine and the study of such was a very humbling experience for me. Therefore, to even have such arrogance would simply someday result to one’s downfall. And as spiteful as I might sound, I silently prayed that he would flunk his exam.

The Obnoxious Medical Student part II

This was not my first encounter with the so-called Obnoxious Medical Student. Apparently, several months later, another incidental meeting of another came while I was studying at the Starbuck’s branch in Greenhills.

Naturally, to my surprise, I had come to realize that there were two classifications of such medical students. There were the ones who bragged about their mental superiority and there were those who sang their own praises with material objects.

This particular medico was having a heated discussion with his friend regarding the usage of his car to an outing. It turns out that he was the only one who had a large SUV and that he was sick and tired of being the designated driver. His friend suggested that maybe one of the passengers could drive for him during the ordeal, but he disagreed and said that it was his car, therefore, nobody other than him would drive. He even remarked on how it was that it was always him that people depended on for mode of transportation.

If manners and etiquette were not a boundary, I would have butted in and suggested that he would simply decline such matter. Alas as it was, it was clearly none of my business plus I had better things to do other than indulge in such trivial matters. Why is it that people must always try to do things that probably don’t even concern them? Is it too hard to turn down such matter and let others think of a better alternative? Or perhaps it’s an ego thing that he wanted to feel like he was still needed and important? While he and his friend pondered on this petty matter, I picked up my earphones and cranked up the volume.



File number 5

Midnight’s Baby

Molly McGregor, a now defunct coffee shop situated at Timog, Quezon City, was one of the places where I would go to catch up on my late night studies. The vicinity served as both a relief and nuisance for me as it was also considered an indoor smoking area. It was a relief because I did not have to brave the polluted outdoors in order to revive myself with nicotine.

It had never bothered me until I came across a young couple that brought their 3-month old infant with them to the area while they were socializing with their friends. You could not imagine how appalled I was when this particular couple’s friends were smoking in front of the baby! At it was, the hour was late and it had clearly occurred to me why these uncaring parents had not bothered to leave their child at home in a safer, smoke-free environment.

Why must it always be that parents would bring their children along with them in such surroundings? I admit though I am not a parent nor am I fond of children, I contemplated on how these parents were insensitive to this child’s needs. I wondered if they had simply brought their baby either to brag to their friends or because it was merely convenient for them so as they could spend “quality” time with their offspring? Disgusted as I was, I decided not to smoke during this entire nightmare.

File no. 6

The Thespian-turned-Coffee-Maker

“There’s no business, like show business,” was the thought that came across my mind a couple months back in Seattle’s Best E.Rod. I was there as usual catching up on my late night reading. Things seemed pretty normal until I heard the busboy behind me flirting with a customer named “Love”. At first I thought it was very unusual for such behavior as mostly the personnel are quite formal and such conduct would seem inappropriate.

I turned my head to take a glance, and to my surprise, it was Rollie (not his real name). I had met him a couple of years back when I was in high school. I came from an exclusive girl’s school and naturally, we would have soirees with boys from other known schools. Rollie came from a particularly well-known boys school. I remembered him as an arrogant lad who was a star at his school’s drama club as his mother was also an English teacher at his alma matter.

It surprised me that for all that hard work he did acting for big name theatre companies, it had finally landed him a role as a coffee brewer at Seattle’s Best. I was about to call his attention, when one of the regular patrons of the store recognized him and asked him the same question that pondered on my mind. Rollie explained that he had finally given up the life at the stage and was ready for the “real world”.

The truth is, I didn’t like Rollie nor did I feel sorry for him. But when you really think about it, his situation seems almost dreadful to brag at his high school reunion. To serve coffee at a place where some of his high school classmates could see him in his busboy uniform and make fun of him seemed pitiful, if not pathetic. I reflected on how the boys from his alma matter were perhaps doing desk jobs that came with a five-figure pay. Even someone as bigheaded as Rollie perhaps did not deserve such bad karma. Anyway, I failed to tell you that Rollie had avoided me for the rest of the evening. He did not serve my coffee nor did he even acknowledge me as I walked out the door.