Café Culture

One of my favorite things about living in Europe is going to cafés. Everywhere you look there are cafés with wonderful food right on the sidewalks. Not only do you have a view of your favorite Parisian monument, but you are right out there among the people. You get to eat, chain smoke, drink a glass of wine and most importantly - judge people.

This is the national Parisian past time. It is so ingrained in their culture that at these cafés you don't face your friends while you talk - you sit side-by-side facing the foot traffic so as to have a better vantage point to judge the people as they walk by.

"That girl has a cute jacket."

"Those heels are adorable! But how does she walk in them?"

"Parisian men in suits. Ooo la la."

"Stupid American tourist in bad clothes. They're making us look bad."

Although I have left Paris, I have taken this penchant for judging back to the states. But there is a severe lack of cafés in which to engage in one of my favorite time wasters. So... I have adapted this habit to the party scene.

Sitting around a crowded bar or party evaluating that girl's outfit, or this guy's two-step style, I've realized that I don't judge to mock people (well... maybe not all the time); it's more of a way to analyze society. After my many silent hours in Europe, not speaking the language, not knowing the people - I learned to appreciate just watching the everyday interactions of human life. The group of teenagers thinking they were so cool smoking cigarettes outside the high-school. The old woman with her nurse sitting in the Luxembourg Gardens everyday. The guards outside my apartment grabbing snacks from the local allimentation to make it through their shift. The smiles on the people's faces when the sun came out after a long winter.

No matter where you go, its the same - everyday life being lived.

It's great to be a part of that - to make up your own stories for the people, to admire them, or to judge them from afar.

And if you don't have anything nice to say - come sit by me at a café in Paris and let's talk about how no one should EVER wear a cotton college t-shirt in the fashion capital of the world.