Bring Your Extension Cord
Mark K December 1st, 2007
My sister and I were having coffee at a Starbucks in downtown San Francisco yesterday when the young woman sitting next to us asked us if we would watch her computer while she went to the bathroom. I said that we would and then kidded her that I liked her extension cord.
She was sitting at a small table in the middle of the room. Since all of the tables on the perimeter near the wall outlet were taken, she had plugged in a heavy-duty black extension cord, which snaked across the room to her table where she was working on her laptop. My sister chastised me for embarrassing the woman as she walked away.
When she returned and thanked us for guarding the computer, I apologized for my wisecrack about the cord. I said that the truth is that I have my laptop with me as well and that I guess that I was feeling insecure about the fact that I only had the puny cord that was supplied when I bought the computer.
“He has cord envy,” my sister offered in the way of further explanation.
The young woman laughed and said that that’s okay. She said that she needs a long extension cord to make sure that her computer doesn’t lose a charge and that she can continue doing her homework for a long period of time. She said that she has to come to a public place like Starbucks because if she stays in her apartment, she won’t get much done.
As a fellow laptop writer and procrastinator, that caught my interest and I had to ask her what happens when she stays at home - does she get sidetracked by standing in front of the refrigerator trying to decide what to eat?
She says that she finds any and everything to do besides her assignments, including cleaning the apartment from top to bottom.
I asked her if she wasn’t distracted just as much by the noise around her at Starbucks, such as the nosy people at the table next to her?
Her answer was very interesting. She said that in fact, the opposite was true. She felt that when she did her homework at Starbucks, her fellow customers were keeping an eye on her and would notice if she were slacking off from her work. This keeps her motivated and helps her to get more done.
I felt better about being such a wise guy about the extension cord, knowing that I was part of the team in the coffee house, helping a student finish her paper on time.
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- Comments(3)
Great story! I think many of us can relate to her and what she’s trying to do here… One motivating factor I’ve observed in such locales (besides, of course, the caffeine) is that the activity around you actually gives YOU energy and focus. I think ADD doctors have something to say about this. Either way, I applaud her for finding her way in this distractable world. Thanks for bringing her story to us!
I’ve been enjoying your blog very much. I, too, go to Starbucks often to get things done. I’m a writer and I find it much more distracting to write at home with my family around me. I like what the young woman said about the people around her keeping her accountable. I find the atmosphere at Starbucks to be like white noise. No one is talking to me (unlike at home) and so I can shut them out and focus on my writing. At home there can be a ton of interruptions and noise, but it’s directed at me, or could be any minute, and that makes it hard for me to get into that deep concentration I need. I also find it much easier to procrastinate at home. At Starbucks, I’m there to WRITE.
Thanks again for an enlightening blog.
[…] about this group reminded me of an earlier post called Bring Your Extension Cord, about a young women who always brings her extension cord with her when she goes to Starbucks so […]