The Mobile Office

It's 3:14pm. It's a Monday. Ray Charles croones over the antiquated speaker system and the ice of my first ice coffee has melted in that way when milk and water melt to create something unappetizing, yet knowing that looks aren't everything, it is slurped down regardless. Cubicles of other office workers surround me. Little squares of hunched over, shorts-wearing customers, chew their nails as the reflection of the little fluorescent blue screen reflect their facebook profiles in their enlarged corneas. My waitress brings me more coffee. The high life. Am I plugged in? Charged? Don't want to loose anything, so I better plug it in. Am I distinguished in my office space I wonder..do the other office workers also glance up to check my working state..the length of time my coffee has sat next to me cooling down, the speed of my typing, the intentness of my gaze at the screen. Oh, a phone text, what ho! A message! For me..no. Alas, just a bit of spam. Not to worry, in this mobile office we can pretend that every text matters or that it doesn't. Anything is possible, and as this is my time and my office, I shall act accordingly.

A lot can be said for the culture of the Mobile Office.
Whilst living in Korea, no one I knew had a landline and all matters of business was frequently done whilst speaking loudly on the subway or sending off resume's in PC bangs (Computer gaming rooms), amidst pimply korean boys playing Warcraft. "Come in for a job interview..sure.".I'll just confirm it right here in front of everyone on the bus, oh and while I am at it, I don't mind applying my foundation, eyeliner and mascara. The world is my office, my personal domain, and that concept of privacy was rather inconsistently followed. I must perhaps emphasize that these habits were picked up not out of a personal choice to disregard social etiquette but because a. Korean ladies were constantly doing their own make-up and taking pictures on subways, escalators, elevators, mirrors in hallways, bathroom entrances, tables at restaurants and anywhere and everywhere in between. After a while it just seemed natural and b. in the quiet of a Korean subway car, someone calling you to confirm an appointment or to chat to you about their crap day at work, seems perfectly ideal as no-one appears to be listening (and as I believe most of them were, I am providing a healthy exercise in practicing their English listening abilities) it seemed harmless and eventually just common place.

Moving on to the Mobile office in the most commonly frequented of places. The Coffee Shop.
Now one cannot mention this without coming to the watering hole of Mobile office locations in the world, namely STARBUCKS..

Mmm..a lot can and will be said about Starbucks, from their dodgy business principles in the past dealing with African coffee plantations, to their overpriced bouquet coffee, to their uncanny business plan of destroying independent coffee shops by infiltrating neighbourhoods and spreading like locusts. (Never suggest to a friend to meet at Starbucks. The most common response "Wait..which one?". You might as well land in India, turn to the guy next to you and ask"Do you know where my friend? His name is Muhammed." An absolutely pointless and trivial exercise I assure you.)
Yet the place, the chain, the coffee still appeals.. and I think to understand why, you kind of have to go with the back story of the place.

*This story was told to me by a friend who studies marketing and branding. As it is her business to figure out why certain businesses came about and to study company profiles, I would say, if anyone would know, she would. Whether it is public knowledge or not is beyond me but it is definitely from a trusted source.

One of the guys who started the whole concept of the Starbucks coffee shop back in the 70's, had a mom and a dad. His dad got sick and was hospitalized for a period of time. During this period, his mom would stay at the hospital and wait around whilst he was being operated and recovering. Other family members, including the guy would come too and give her a break from the waiting so that she could go get a cup of coffee. Having had to suffer through the terrible coffee at the hospital, his mom would then go for a walk, often in the rain (this was Seattle after all), to find a decent, and affordable cup of coffee, at a garage or some other establishment. Often it was overpriced. Often there was nowhere to sit and relax.
Upon seeing this, one of the creator's decided that there needs to be a coffee shop that can provide
a. GOOD COFFEE at b. AN AFFORDABLE PRICE and that it should be
c. EASILY ACCESSIBLE AND readily LOCATED and d. COMFORTABLE TO BE IN.. e viola..the Starbuck concept.

So whenever you go to Starbucks, you can still buy a cup of coffee that is under two dollars. Fact.
You can sit in their comfy chairs and hang out using their WI-FI..all day, no limits. Fact. (In fact, I have even been in Starbuck's where I've said to the peeps, that I didn't want the coffee but desperately needed to use their wi-fi. No-one has ever turned me away.)
Also if you don't like your coffee, beverage, whatever, its in Starbuck's policy to make it again - until you like it.
And say what you will, the company f#&up in the past, but they have put in MAJOR effort to get their image back on track.
That is why the MOBILE OFFICE and STARBUCKS mesh so well. Why Starbucks is the preferred meeting spot for students, writers and business folks. I often glance around me to see big tables of twenty somethings merged over their work, obvious job interviews, tutoring sessions, lone office workers, earphones in, working and of course the writers eavesdropping on conversations they hear around them in an attempt to capture the voice of the year, the people, the culture.

Which bring me back to the topic of discussion..The Mobile Office.
As distracting and weird as it seems to be a person spending their time in coffee shops with their powerbooks and laptops, I believe the Mobile Office is a healthy wonderful little way of doing business. Working at home more often than not, leads to you watching day-time telly, mucking about with the dishes or deciding to play uber amazing girlfriend/daughter/partner/wife/woman and cook/bake something for the returning real office workers and kiddies, instead of just warming up that Woolies lasagna or ordering pizza.  Totally unnecessary if you ask me.

By taking the Mobile office with you, you literally downsize on paperwork, folder etc.
You also get over that ancient stigma of being at a restaurant alone. Ha ha! Get to people watch and eat some cake whilst your add it.

Keep it simple, keep it close to you and get out a bit. The Mobile Office.
And that is my personal take on the matter..