Coffee Republic

While I am not a fan of the overly “Gaz” hangout Coffee Republic in Free Zone, I found myself accompanying some of my friends there recently. From the moment I walked through the grassy lawn I recognized everyone there. It was as if the entire AUK population signed a secret contract with the coffee shop to serve them and them alone; and I get the immediate sensation that I’m missing my notebook and that I should be rushing to a lecture somewhere but I remind myself that I am not on campus. The first thing I notice when I walk up to the counter to place my order is the six different employees crushed up against each other in the narrow space behind the cash register. I wonder why they need that many workers for such a small space. I only needed to place my order for my question to be answered.

I tell the first worker what I want, a caffe latte with a slice of cheesecake. She turns to the worker next to her as if I’d asked her to list the latest discoveries in the field of quantum physics. To her misfortune the worker next to her was not much brighter than she and required the assistance of the man next to him. I now have half the Coffee Republic team working on my order. Once the difficult task of deciphering my almost-impossible order of milk and coffee with a slice of cheesecake was finally complete the lady behind the cash register informed me of the total of my order. I take out a twenty and place it on the counter then spend the next eight minutes watching the second half of the Coffee Republic team join the first half in figuring out how much change I should receive.

The answer was 17 KD.

Finally with my drink and cheesecake in hand we head to a corner table outside and take a seat. And we stare at those around us while they stare at us. And then some more staring. And finally, just while I think that no more staring could be done…everyone stares some more.

After consuming my rubber-tire tasting cheesecake (and trust me I am insulting rubber-tire when I say this) we get up and head home. But don’t think for one second that we did not stare as we drove off.