This is my response to Sasha's blog post about a coffee shop in South Pasadena.
This is a really interesting way to think about a coffee shop. I feel like there are two kinds of coffee shops: the ones that people go to for a quick pick-me-up and WiFi, and the ones where people go to socialize and meet new people. I like how you brought in the idea of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft. A coffee shop where there is an array of customers that probably each have a unique background, yet are happy to converse with each other whether or not they know each other definitely brings to mind ideas of Gemeinschaft. Any town or neighborhood with a small-town feel where everyone seems to know each other and is super friendly is the kind of place where community matters, and social differences between people seem not to matter. And when community matters to people, they tend to participate and volunteer their time in order to preserve that feeling of community. On the other had, in a dense, busy city, Gesellschaft tends to take over. There are so many strangers and people are constantly in such a hurry that they don't really stop to consider anyone else. They run into the coffee shop, order, and leave. (I think this speaks to your comment about the traffic as well. LA has a public transportation system and carpool lanes, yet somehow it never pops into my mind as an ideal or preferred means of travel. I think people are so busy and involved in so many individual activities that they always need to be somewhere; hence the constant traffic.) And those that stay are usually on their laptops or listening to music instead of being open to encounters with others. I think that our society isn't completely Gemeinschaft or Gesellschaft. I think that we have a mix of both; and I think that each has pros and cons. Whether or not it's a good thing is up to each individual, and places are so diverse that I think there's a place for everyone.
