Sitting alone in Starbucks, enjoying a cup of coffee, accompanied by my favorite book or laptop. That's one of the most favorite things I love to do. I love my me-time. It lets me learn and reflect myself more. But another thing I like to do in this coffee shop is, I love to watch what people do in this place. I see a Japanese lady who always comes there alone every morning. I see an old businessman who always enjoys a cup of espresso just for 10-15 minutes around 10am everyday. And of course I also see something different everyday. I see friendly people. I see angry customers. I make friends with the baristas. I find a lot of people who just stand in front of the store just to get Wi-Fi. That Starbucks store is really like my second home.
However, there was something different I saw today. It may sound overwhelming, but I really enjoyed what I saw today. So a family came to this Starbucks. A father, a mother, two daughters. Everything went normally. The mother and two daughters just sit while the father was ordering for them. One round table for four people. Four drinks and a plate of cake to share.
The father started to take out his hard-cover book and read.
The mother started browsing something on her phone seriously.
The first daughter had her own kid magazine she was ready to read,
and the youngest daughter was busy playing a game on her father's ipad.
No one talked. Really. I could really feel the quietness around that table.
It was still the same for hours (yes, I sit in Starbucks for hours). Everyone just did their own thing very seriously. Once in a while, the younger daughter showed something on the ipad screen to the father, and they smiled together, then she continued doing her own thing again. It didn't make them feel weird or strange. They just enjoyed what they were doing. And about a plate of cake on the table, everyone could take one more bite of it if they wanted. It was for sharing.
I think many people will think this family seems weird, but we don't find this kind of view everyday. When I saw it, the first thing that came in my mind was, "This family is unique". I call it 'quality time in quietness'. Quietness can be an act of sharing and caring. Too much of this and that will just make some noise. To be honest, it can be disturbing somehow.
You don't always need trying too hard to make people understand how much you care. Just being quiet and letting them do what they do on their own can show how much you appreciate them, and that can be a way you care and share your love to them. It's one thing to ignore and not care what your loved ones do, but it's another thing to be there for them without distracting what they do.