The Lair of the Emerald Serpent

Maybe it is the sense of being surrounded by people but distanced a little by the fact you're sitting at a table. Sometimes you need to be surrounded by people but in situations where they don't impinge on you. I don't have any particular habit associated with having coffee in a cafe but maybe its the ritual of greeting the person at the counter and the chit-chat and then to sit down look around at people and then read my newspaper.