My name is Brad. I am a writer, I am awkward in social situations, and I spend a lot of time in coffee shops trying to escape all of the terribly distracting things I find at home (video games, movies, tv, cats, comics, vitamin water, robots, etc.). I rotate amongst local coffee shops throughout the week so that no single location becomes too familiar with my presence. Spending any appreciable amount of time in one place is bound to make you privy to the occasional odd situation, but I have come to believe that coffee shops are breeding grounds for weird. The following is my account of the wonderfully weird and horribly awkward situations I have encountered.

It Was Brown and Shaped Like a Cup.

Someone lost their coffee in Starbucks.  I’m not sure how it happened, but he couldn’t find his coffee in the small, mostly empty shop.  A barista was actually nice enough to help him search for the missing brew, but the search quickly ended in failure.  The coffee seems to be gone.  The barista was nice [...]

Thanks For Caring.

The baristo asked me how my leg was after the spill from last week.  Made me feel better about the whole situation.

Something Awkward.

There is a couple (20ish) currently sitting in Starbucks, both looking incredibly glum.  The guy is staring off into space, while the girl stares at him, once in a while saying, “Don’t be sad.  Don’t be sad.  Now I’m sad.”  Then they fill the room with awkward silence.  The guy caught me glancing over at [...]