The Barnes and Noble Experience

I haven't had a chance to blog about this yet, what with all the house stuff going on. But it was a strange experience for me.

I've always been a homebody. Whatever I can do at home without going out is preferable to me. So, I've never understood the people who pack up their laptops and their ipods and go to work at a Barnes and Noble cafe table. I just don't get it.

But then a couple of weeks ago, fate intervened. We were on our way to Wisconsin for a family birthday celebration and I'd brought a laptop (not mine but Greg's...that's a whole other story) so I could work in the car on the way up. Between moving and working, I don't have a whole lot of spare time so I have to use what I have. Anyway, we had to make an emergency stop at the oil change place on our way up. The oil change place happens to be in the mall, as is a GIANT Barnes and Noble (two stories and everything!)

So I've got my regular bag over one shoulder and the laptop in a bag over my other shoulder and I'm limping through the mall. My regular bag alone probably weighs fifteen pounds with all the books, computer disks, notebooks, change, small portable pharmacy and everything else I carry around with me. Then with the computer on the other side...well, let's just say I felt like a pack mule.

So I beg off further mall wandering and find an available table at the back of Barnes and Noble. Now, I just happen to have both my laptop and ipod with me, so I decide to set up shop for a few minutes, just to see if I can figure out the allure of this location. And guess what...I did!

I spent the first five minutes feeling utterly self-conscious, like a giant cliche. Hello, yuppie with a laptop and an ipod in a Barnes and Noble. It could have only been worse if it was a Starbucks (which, actually, technically, I suppose it was, since Starbucks is the coffee of choice in the Barnes and Noble cafe.) But then as I got into what I was working on (GMC charts) and my ipod drowned out all the noise, all my fears of looking silly or pretentious disappeared. And I really got into the work. I was actually sad when Greg came to get me. So...I get it now, the Barnes and Noble effect, let's call it.

When you're there, no one's looking to you for anything. No one expects you to get up from the laptop and make dinner or answer the phone. You don't feel guilty for not picking up the house or vacuuming or whatever because you can't. None of those chores are there to be done. Chores are a frequent excuse writers use to keep from writing. I have no idea why. I hate doing chores way more than just about anything else. But if I really need to get stuff done around the house, all I have to do is think about sitting behind the computer and suddenly the dusting gets done. It's something about the vulnerability of sitting at the computer and facing a blank page or, worse yet, a page full of writing that seemed golden yesterday and seems mediocre today.

Barnes and Noble is a perfect place to write because you have no excuses. You could browse all the books, but you have to haul your computer around with you everywhere. It's easier just to sit there and write. And something about the environment seems to impersonal and business-y, that writing doesn't feel quite so personal and vulnerable. It's like going to an office to do your job. Plus, hello?!? Could you ask to be surrounded by more inspiration? Books, books, everywhere!

I'm not sure when or if I'll go back. If I weren't working the day job, I might go during the day, just to get the change of scenery. Something to keep in mind for the future, I guess.

What about you? Anybody else ever tried working like this at a bookstore/coffee shop?