the cafe's alive (or not) with the sound of music....

oh music.
particularly cafe music.

i've been to places that only rotate crappy hipster vinyl, yes *vinyl* as an attempt at being edgy.
i've worked places that let you bring in your own stuff (within reason), which usually works pretty well for setting different moods and having vayst variety.
i've worked at places with crappy XM radio bullshit.

and now, there's the next inevitable phase-pandora. ideally, this could be the best music variety out there, however, not so much when your stations have to be "pre-approved" (a.k.a. STRICTLY CONTROLLED/ edited) by the powers that be.

per suck-tastic when the approved stations all sound the same/ play the same lame whiny emo singer-songwriter shit/ lull you to sleep and generally put the majority of customers right into *WORK MODE*.

no really. there is a notable difference in the vibe/atomosphere when the pre-approved stations are playing versus when T.P.T.B. are out of the day and we choose fun shit (like M.I.A. or Garbage or She&Him or DePeche Mode....etc.) store stations= office death

by this (office death) i mean everyone zombie'd out on their laptops/ipads, silent as death and creepily quiet/library shush-shush. when the choice is a more lively (NOT approved, also been called "lame" by one of T.P.T.B.) one, people talk. they interact. they make friends. they get up and walk around and make the place welcoming and lively and RAD-TACULAR!

so i say- fuck the system. damn the man! save the empire!

quandry/ conuundrum of same-aged "regulars"

there exists, a fine line, between being friendly with customers and being friends.  i often wonder when/if it's okay to become friends with customers of the same age. seeing as that work is all i do (not in school, haven't embraced any pastimes of social relevance) the most i interact with people in my age group is...well...at work. making their coffee, grabbing a pastry. maybe chatting up some new album or movie or asking about what they are working on. but can it ever be more than that? or is that awkward?

how does one go about befriending a "regular"? does it come off as stalker-esque? do they even WANT to be my friend? does it seem like i'm flirting? desperate? lame???

i think the worst aspect though, are the regulars still in school or working real jobs. then i just feel inadequate in comparison--"look at me! i work at a cafe for a living! wanna hang out?"

argh! is it simpler than that? or is it just a sad consequence of working a service job that friendships with customers are just plain out of the question???