What does the loansome cafe goer really represent?
Whenever you see somebody sat alone in a restaurant or pub, there is an automatic sense of compassion that bubbles up inside every one of us. Why is this person reduced to such tragic solitude, we ask ourselves?
True enough, sitting down to lunch in either a restaurant or pub, while surrounded by countless groups of chattering diners can be a very lonely experience, especially when everyone in your near vicinity is wary of your supposed solitude and throws the odd gaze of empathy.
Public eating establishments in an Anglo-Saxon world are social places, where solitude is despised and rarely catered for. Far too often there will be music playing in restaurants and cafes meaning pastimes like reading and peaceful contemplation are near impossible.
France, however, has adopted a different attitude. The folkloric imagery surrounding Paris’ café culture somehow urges the individual to enter the premises unaccompanied. People will sit for hours on end – usually with a pen and paper at the ready or a book in hand – and nestle into their very own solitary cocoon.
Ironically, it is very often in public meeting places like cafes that the French individual can feel the most alone and at ease with their inner soul. The contrary can be said in many Anglo-Saxon environments.
Presently, much of the political chitter-chatter in France deals with Sarkozy’s decision to take hold of the political steering wheel, act with swift dynamism and even do the jobs of his fellow ministers, belittling their respective duties. Sarkozy is a doer rather than a thinker. Hence, many French citizens – who tend to support Sarkozy’s policies – are talking about Anglo-Saxon pragmatism and the many benefits of rapid social evolution. In other words, French people are talking about an approach to life which metaphorically moves them from the realm of the cafe to the realm of the pub.
Can we really see some of France’s modern day existential issues on society through a simple comparison between the pub and the cafe?
