As I sit in a booth at Wiggin, I can’t help but admire, and occasionally cringe at the goings on around me. As it turns out Wiggin Street Coffee is a hub for awkward social interaction on Kenyon’s campus.
1. The Wiggins Walk By
I’m going to start off with something we’re all familiar with: the dreaded “Wiggins walk by.” This event, would normally rank as an eight on the cringe-o-meter, but has been decreased to a six, due to desensitization. Seriously, I have never made it through a full week without the sinking feeling in my chest that accompanies a lack of seating at Wiggin.
2. The Family Feud
Wiggin Street is a great place for families to catch up over chai lattes and discuss futures. That being said, it is also the home of frequent family feuds. Whether it’s a fifth grader crying after a parent-teacher conference, or a senior scrambling to come up with an acceptable graduate school plan to tell their mothers, someone is always uncomfortable.
3. The Interview
The coffee shop is also a hotspot for interviews. Teach for America, City Year, and Overland all take up booths during the semester to select candidates for their programs, and as you sit in an adjacent booth you listen in on every single exchange. Don’t try to hide it, I know you’re secretly stacking up your accomplishments against all of these applicants résumés.
4. Netflixers
This next group isn’t characterized by their awkward social interactions, but more so their lack of them. The Wiggin Street Netflix watchers are omnipresent. You can spot them by their drooping eyelids, relaxed expressions, and their ability to curl their limbs around a screen of a laptop. These students are completely unaware of their surroundings. In fact, if not asked to leave Wiggin Street at closing, they can remain in place for up to 36 hours.
5. Study Groups
Wiggin is also a choice study spot on campus. Study groups frequently consist of two to four students whose productivity is frequently interrupted by light conversation. These remarks range from, “I have to go back to my room… I left all of my knives out” to “I need you to shave me.”
6. The Late Night Crew
Particularly studious people, or perhaps just really behind-on-work people, can be found along with the Netflixers until 10 P.M. when Wiggin Street locks its doors. These groups are easy to confuse with their eyes glued to laptop screens and expressionless faces. Unlike the Netflixers, members of the late night crew are prone to frustrated crying, muttering to themselves, and worst of all, falling asleep and drenching their keyboard in drool. Members of the late night crew, I wish you good luck.
7. The Daters
The final, and most bizarre group, are the Wiggin Street daters. This group is also hard to determine due to its wide range of attributes. If a date is going well, the two customers might converse over a Wiggin Street Mocha. If the date is failing miserably, they might both put in headphones and wordlessly pet a goat stuffed animal; the possibilities are endless.
Wiggin Street Coffee is a great setting for all of the above-mentioned activities. The next time you stop by, add to the experience with some people watching.
Image Credit: Feature, 1, Writer’s Own