Starbucks: The Unifying Link

I decided to spend an afternoon observing the fascinating (sort of) social life of us USC students at the local Starbucks near campus. With my eyes and ears open and my handy invisibility cloak (how cool would it be to own one?), I learned some interesting things about what goes on during coffee breaks...

It’s a typical Thursday afternoon at the local Hoover and Jefferson Starbucks: young minds studiously work on upcoming papers, concerned teachers mentor eager students, and friends (many of which follow the rule of three) congregate over coffee and sticky pastries to discuss the highs and lows of the week.

While the entire world around the corner java shop continues to change, the “business as usual” pattern at the overly-priced coffee conglomerate creates a cloud of comfort that surrounds the café. In its own way, the commonplace hangout even represents how all students at USC are the same: struggling to make it, while trying to find their place in this world…or a reasonable price on a decent apartment.

As the sun starts to weaken and the outside patio begins to transform into a shadowy nook, two separate groups of students chat about their current living situations simultaneously. Stereotypically the two crowds are at opposite ends of the social spectrum, one being the conventional blond, sorority girl troupe and the other symbolizing the clichéd male, film posse. But, in actuality, the two crews deal with similar problems, including apartment hunting.

Just like the petite brown birds flutter around the gray cobbled ground searching for scraps of food, students from all different backgrounds and social scenes are beginning to rummage all over the city of Los Angeles for the perfect apartment. Low rent, their own bedroom, and easy freeway access are at the top of everyone’s must-have list.

So as students sip on their routine four-dollar pick-me-ups, while trying not to get hit by the constant whizzing by of colorful bike riders, they seem at ease knowing they are not alone.