Monday column: Guess who turned up at the coffee shop?

Coffee shops are usually for regular people who sit together to share their ordinary stories and even to unwind their daily stresses.

Last week, I noticed one of the richest men in the country walking his way in and sitting on one of the tables of my regular coffee shop. It was peak time and the place was busy as usual. He was hoping to blend in with the rest of the drinkers. Heads started to turn to look at his direction but everyone kept their distance.

Once they knew who he was, they gave him the space and privacy. Ordinary people with few rials in the bank, always rallied together by sitting somewhere for idle talk. But it is more than just that. They really share things and it is the best way to relieve stress. Stresses build up all the time and they need a channel to exit on daily basis.

So what about this rich person who suddenly just turned up at a place normally all the regulars are just getting by financially? What was he really looking for? Was he experimenting how it felt to sit with the rest of us? Or just like the rest of us, he was looking to unwind all the anxieties building up in him on regular basis?

I think we all realise that it is the people who ‘make or break’ our pleasures in life. It all starts from home surrounded by family members and end up back at home. However, the streets that take us to our routines are full of people and also the offices or even shops we go. But we rarely think this routine is really a support system.

Let me repeat it. The support system for our well-being is not how much wealth we are accumulating but our contacts with people. Don’t get me wrong. We don’t necessary need to have hundreds of friends and acquaintances. Just a few will do. Right here in Oman, we need to drive to commercial areas to get into coffee shops to meet friends.  Nothing wrong with it. But in small towns and even in villages, they just meet under a shade of a tree.

They sit down on a simple mat where coffee is served around while they talk about everything under the sun. They have no restrictions in their discussions. They just talk. It is the sharing of sentiments, emotions and experiences which matter most among them. It is not about what car you are driving, how many bedrooms you have in your house or the shops you buy your clothes from.

The financial status has nothing to do with these daily sittings. Everybody in the group is on the same level of discussion. That’s how they cope with their inner turmoil on every day basis. So group talking is a stress buster, which is good for both the mental and physical health. Mind you, what weighs in your mind is much heavier then what you carry on your shoulders.  

So, going back to our millionaire friend who just landed in the midst of ordinary people talking ordinary conversation, was not a coincidence. He wanted to be there to ‘feel’ the ordinariness where money does not pull the strings between our minds and hearts. He just wanted to be 'ordinary' while sipping his coffee.