I am a mom of a 3-year old and have a full-time job. A remote full-time job. Which means, I work from home. I’m a working stay at home mom, if you want.
But to be honest, about two to three mornings every week, I’m more of a working stay-at-Panera-mom. I’d feel terribly uninspired and distracted if I had to work from home full eight hours every day, and it would probably also make me an irreparable slob who lives in her PJs. Getting out right after daycare drop-off is refreshing and also kind of my little every day indulgence — seeing other people, eating a breakfast you didn’t make yourself … So, why Panera?
For many reasons: One, it’s very close to where I live. Opelika has nice places, but I’m not going to lose 20 minutes one way for driving — 20 minutes of expensive, precious daycare time! Because, that’s the currency working moms (with little children) think with: How much of getting-stuff-done can I squeeze into those eight, nine hours?
Another reason is their decent coffee and food for an affordable price. It would be a little bit sad and counter-productive if I spent 50% of my daily rate on food while working.
But the main reason why I come back over and over again is the mix of anonymity and familiarity — the fact that I can hide in one of those booths and shut myself out, but also know 90% of the staff and 50% of the frequent customers. Auburn is a small town, so I see the same guy on the same seat every time, and would run into my mom friends. I have my favorite seat (the 4th single booth to the right), my favorite cashier, my favorite scone. Extra bonus: On particularly lucky days like today, a random stranger waiting in line with me might tell me that I look great. Very helpful on days like this when I actually feel like crap after too little sleep and too much pollen (allergy).
Me sitting in one of the booths with that brown patterned upholstery in the background also turned into a running gag on various video calls with my team. “It’s noisy. Are you at Panera again, Rosa?” People are actually confused when they catch me at home and there’s zero chitter-chatter to be heard — and no ugly upholstery. (And y’all, there’s literally no *quiet* café in the entire Lee County, I swear.)
It seems weird, but I basically call Panera my second office. And I’d say, an office that includes a yummy scone and compliments from strangers: It could be worse.
