SILENCED pt. 4 (matt sokol's travel blog)

SILENCED PT. 4

April 7th, 2017, Raleigh, NC. At the Caribou Coffeeshop, listening to the baristas talk about the band Linkin Park. One of them is explaining to the other that “the old stuff is good - you gotta hear the old stuff.”

Ten years ago, you couldn’t find a teenager who didn’t love Linkin Park. They defined rebellion. Now they’re a shitty remix band that teenagers tolerate for a few minutes at a time on the radio. Weird how that happens.

Various groups coalesce around the shop, you can guess their personalities from where they sit:

Young adults at one table, laptops out, poking through a school assignment. Their faces in a perpetual scowl, I’m amazed their eyebrows don’t cramp up after being tense for so long. They sit in stiff chairs at a table by the front, a terrible spot.

To my left, two women engaged in an intimate conversation. They sit in curvy wooden chairs, comfortable in an awake kind of way, at a small table. They are close to each other, and maintaining eye contact.

Behind me, in the comfortable chairs, the older folks. They’ve earned security, you can see it in the way they slouch. Only two people slouch like that: People who know they will retire comfortably, and teenagers who think they’ll never grow old.

Best of all is the baristas - upbeat, friendly, and active. They seem not to mind the job. This place is like Starbucks without the stigma, and much more friendly. It’s always nice when the staff seems happy.

I can speak now. My voice has returned… but I don’t really want to use it. You learn the value of listening after a long vocal rest. I’ll keep quiet for a while longer.

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