It's Saturday. Just another day when you're voluntarily unemployed. The wifi was not working at my house this afternoon and so as I often do, I went out to find a coffee shop. I like to mix it up so I don't get totally stuck in a routine. To stimulate my brain a little. Sometimes I go to Kiriya, sometimes to Java, occasionally to Brown, Paul's Brewehouse, Cafe 701, Q Tea, Spinelli, anywhere for the sake of change. To try something new, to see different faces and just to get out of the house. That last one is probably the most important.
So after watching The Town (2010), a pretty entertaining affair by Ben Affleck, I started feeling antsy and was in one of those moods that suggested I gotta get the fuck outta the house, now! I hustled to get my bag together and made my way to the river, intent on hitting up Brown, a local comfortable chain of coffee houses. It was pretty busy the previous Saturday, but I was able to find a chair that didn't overly offend my hemorrhoids. These hardwood chairs are the last to be chosen anywhere and I find them a bit offensive, but sometimes you can't be choosy.
I noticed the obscene number of motorbikes out front as I pulled up and knew it was going to be messy. And indeed it was. The only available seating was in someone's lap, on the floor or an outside table and none was a suitable option. Sitting outside on a sunny day in Cambodia is not a viable option unless you are a) Khmer or b) on the beach and I was neither of those. Even if they said "Everything is free for this massive inconvenience and we profusely apologize" I would have declined the offer and gone elsewhere. Anywhere with air conditioning and a cushion for my buttocks. So off I went to find a less popular and hopefully less packed establishment. I'm pretty confident saying they didn't miss me. I was just a blur in someone's peripheral vision as there were plenty of others to service. Sounds like a dirty massage parlor. Getting serviced.
Reminds me a lot of why I used to hate working Monday to Friday. On a weekend furlough from prison to go out and smell the fresh air and live and breathe and then start counting down the hours until you had to get back at it. Nothing has ever felt right about that. And that's why I haven't done it for over a decade. I don't know what makes me think I can do it now. And going into a place packed with those people, celebrating those two short days of independence somehow brings me back into this reality that I find too difficult to bear. I'd rather hibernate at home for the weekend and then only emerge while the masses toil away under flickering fluorescent lights staring at glowing screens changing the world with each click on the keyboard. Yeahhhhh. I guess if the weekend is a weekend furlough then retirement would be like parole. And when people finally get out, some just don't know what to do with themselves anymore. Freedom is too boring.
So anyway, I quickly left that Brown for another. And again, the number of motorbikes out front almost had me driving away without even looking inside. Figuring it would be busy everywhere I parked my bike to have a look. To my surprise there were actually a few choices so I saddled up a chair after ordering a small Americano and a double chocolate chip muffin. This is probably the most reasonably priced coffee shop in Phnom Penh and it's not surprising why it's often crowded even during the week. The coffee is good and the muffins are too. Makes me want to bake my own. Fortunately I don't own an oven otherwise I'd be eating sweets all day.
It's time to get the fuck outta this coffee shop. Now I have that feeling I've been sitting here too long and that I need to get moving again. Go home to find my wifi is still not working, which would be fine in that it forces me to do something else. Maybe even be social, but I doubt it.
Fast forward to Sunday. I forgot to finish this thing. I don't even remember what I was writing about. And here I am at the Brown by the riverside. There were no tables again despite me arriving a few hours earlier today. I decided to wait and within a few minutes a table opened up. Now I'm hogging a table for six, but I'm willing to share with any attractive female patrons that happen by. As long as they don't talk to much because I'm busy. As you can see.
It feels like a happy joyous place. People are smiling and drinking up cupfuls of energy all around me. They better soak up the happy vibes while they can. It'll be back to the cubicle tomorrow for most of them. That or the classroom. Restoring their body's energy to a normal level before it starts nosediving again as soon as the alarm goes off tomorrow morning. What a buzzkill that is. Beep beep beep. Thank fuck it's Wednesday! Almost there. TGIF! And then it's party time. And the beat goes on.
 |
| I love when people misspell shit. |
So after watching The Town (2010), a pretty entertaining affair by Ben Affleck, I started feeling antsy and was in one of those moods that suggested I gotta get the fuck outta the house, now! I hustled to get my bag together and made my way to the river, intent on hitting up Brown, a local comfortable chain of coffee houses. It was pretty busy the previous Saturday, but I was able to find a chair that didn't overly offend my hemorrhoids. These hardwood chairs are the last to be chosen anywhere and I find them a bit offensive, but sometimes you can't be choosy.
 |
| From The Town. |
I noticed the obscene number of motorbikes out front as I pulled up and knew it was going to be messy. And indeed it was. The only available seating was in someone's lap, on the floor or an outside table and none was a suitable option. Sitting outside on a sunny day in Cambodia is not a viable option unless you are a) Khmer or b) on the beach and I was neither of those. Even if they said "Everything is free for this massive inconvenience and we profusely apologize" I would have declined the offer and gone elsewhere. Anywhere with air conditioning and a cushion for my buttocks. So off I went to find a less popular and hopefully less packed establishment. I'm pretty confident saying they didn't miss me. I was just a blur in someone's peripheral vision as there were plenty of others to service. Sounds like a dirty massage parlor. Getting serviced.
Reminds me a lot of why I used to hate working Monday to Friday. On a weekend furlough from prison to go out and smell the fresh air and live and breathe and then start counting down the hours until you had to get back at it. Nothing has ever felt right about that. And that's why I haven't done it for over a decade. I don't know what makes me think I can do it now. And going into a place packed with those people, celebrating those two short days of independence somehow brings me back into this reality that I find too difficult to bear. I'd rather hibernate at home for the weekend and then only emerge while the masses toil away under flickering fluorescent lights staring at glowing screens changing the world with each click on the keyboard. Yeahhhhh. I guess if the weekend is a weekend furlough then retirement would be like parole. And when people finally get out, some just don't know what to do with themselves anymore. Freedom is too boring.
 |
| Here we go again! |
So anyway, I quickly left that Brown for another. And again, the number of motorbikes out front almost had me driving away without even looking inside. Figuring it would be busy everywhere I parked my bike to have a look. To my surprise there were actually a few choices so I saddled up a chair after ordering a small Americano and a double chocolate chip muffin. This is probably the most reasonably priced coffee shop in Phnom Penh and it's not surprising why it's often crowded even during the week. The coffee is good and the muffins are too. Makes me want to bake my own. Fortunately I don't own an oven otherwise I'd be eating sweets all day.
It's time to get the fuck outta this coffee shop. Now I have that feeling I've been sitting here too long and that I need to get moving again. Go home to find my wifi is still not working, which would be fine in that it forces me to do something else. Maybe even be social, but I doubt it.
Fast forward to Sunday. I forgot to finish this thing. I don't even remember what I was writing about. And here I am at the Brown by the riverside. There were no tables again despite me arriving a few hours earlier today. I decided to wait and within a few minutes a table opened up. Now I'm hogging a table for six, but I'm willing to share with any attractive female patrons that happen by. As long as they don't talk to much because I'm busy. As you can see.
 |
| Brown coffee. I prefer it black. |
It feels like a happy joyous place. People are smiling and drinking up cupfuls of energy all around me. They better soak up the happy vibes while they can. It'll be back to the cubicle tomorrow for most of them. That or the classroom. Restoring their body's energy to a normal level before it starts nosediving again as soon as the alarm goes off tomorrow morning. What a buzzkill that is. Beep beep beep. Thank fuck it's Wednesday! Almost there. TGIF! And then it's party time. And the beat goes on.
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