There's something about the conversations we have in cafes

They tend to be composed of the sorts of things that we can't really say anywhere else, but have no problem, at least in principle, with a stranger overhearing. It's the opposite of a secret, isn't it? - the thing you can't find room to say, but will tell anyone who sits still long enough. There's a cadence to cafe conversations, instantly recognizable if you like to eavesdrop on them. It's enthusiastic, but filled with pauses. These are the things people have given up hope of being able to say out loud. They're so eager; they're finding and composing their words after they've begun telling them to their listener. You hear the stop and go traffic inside their mind.