BUZZING: The Bean in the East Village is popular with freelancers who often like to snag a date as they work. (Tamara Beckwith)
Rachel, a freelance writer based in Bedford-Stuyvesant, was working at her local cafe, Daily Press, when she was approached by a young man. He asked her about “Debt,” a book she was reading for story research, and after striking up a conversation, the pair hit it off.
“We went out that night,” says the 28-year-old, who didn’t want to use her last name due to career reasons. The two moved from the cafe to a local bar for drinks.
It seems innocent enough, but this was no ordinary pickup.
Welcome to the “coffice” romance — which is just like an office romance but without cubicles, water coolers and health insurance. It’s the sort of quasi-workplace flirtation and romance that takes place in a freelancer’s office away from the office — at the local cafe.
Enter any coffee shop in New York these days, and you’re likely to find it buzzing with activity of young professionals working on their laptops for hours on end, refilling bottomless cups of coffee as they write their blog posts and design their Web sites.
For many of these freelance worker bees, these shops aren’t just about caffeine, peace and quiet, and free Wi-Fi. They’re also social climates where these otherwise isolated workers fraternize with others, often becoming each other’s “co-workers” — bonding over piping hot cups of joe rather than hot gossip around the office water cooler.
And, just as in a more traditional office setting, sometimes they end up dating.
An estimated 42 million Americans do some sort of freelance or contingent work, according to the Freelancers Union. And judging by the sheer number of MacBooks one sees at any given Brooklyn cafe, it would seem like they all live in New York.
Sam Title, creator of The Coffice, an online and interactive community dedicated to professionals who work from coffee shops, notes how easy it is to find an opening for conversation in the coffice.
“When people have laptops open, there’s reason to talk right there,” he says. “You can walk up to anyone — male or female — and ask them if their Wi-Fi is slow.” A line like this doesn’t have to be a line at all — in the coffice environment, it’s an important work-based question — and can be an opening to something more.
Margarita Korol is all too familiar with this scenario. A Washington Heights-based pop artist, she does much of her design work from coffee shops all over Manhattan — and is often approached by suitors whose opening remarks are usually comments about the art on her computer screen.
Not that these intrusions bother her: “I rarely mind the nosiness,” says the 26-year-old.
“As a freelancer, I like to get out, to be in public yet alone,” she adds. Despite wanting to work solo, Korol says she’s had some impromptu dates while working.
“Last week, a musician got me to take my headphones off when he asked if he could plug into the outlet for a few,” she says. “We chatted about his music projects and my promotional art for local musicians.
“So not only did we talk shop, but we also got to the heart of both of our passion projects — great first-date fodder,” she continues.
Experts chalk up the popularity of coffice dating to the convivial, nonthreatening nature of cafes.
“Because it’s at a day at a coffee shop, your defenses are much lower. You normally don’t talk to anyone and don’t expect to…at a bar you expect to be approached,” says Thomas Edwards, founder of the Professional Wingman, a date and relationship coaching service.
Not only are people more open in cafes, the space itself has a much lower barrier to entry. At work, you can only meet people who, like you, survived the prescreening process — meaning they were interviewed and hired for a job. To freelance in a cafe, on the other hand, all you need to get in is a few bucks for a cup of joe and a dream.
Another advantage to working and flirting in a coffee shop is the ease with which the initial conversation can transition to an actual date: A coffee shop itself can double as a date spot, whereas a cubicle — with its fluorescent lighting — isn’t nearly as conducive to romance. There’s also the sheer amount of time cofficers spend working in these shops — a flirtation can go on for hours, stopping and starting as the freelancer takes breaks from his or her day’s work.
“There were transitions to go beyond the walls of the cafe, as in, ‘Let’s leave and go to dinner,’ ” Korol says about her work experience. One time, for example, a musician who approached her while she was working invited her to a gig, which she attended later the same day.
And other times, you can stay put. “I really like going to Birch [on 27th Street, between Fifth and Madison avenues] for the posh crowd, hipster coffee and organic food. You can stay in one place. There you can have a date continue on,” she adds.
Of course, not all coffee shops are created equal when it comes to fraternizing: Some freelance hangouts are sterile — just like college libraries or study halls during finals where you feared getting shushed if you spoke too loud.
Ana, a barista in her early 20s at a Clinton Hill cafe, believes cues such as the seating and plants play a huge part in how freelancers relate to one another. “Things with the environment help it be this comfortable but exciting place where people do feel like hanging out and flirting,” says Ana, who also didn’t want to use her last name for career reasons.
Communal styles of seating, for example, are especially conducive to easy talk between customers. Still, even if you’re sitting at a smaller table alone, the shop will fill up and you’ll probably end up sharing, and often, chatting.
“People are definitely coming here to work — but knowing they’re going to check people out when they get a chance,” Ana adds.
Phil, a barista at the Bean, an East Village spot, notes that the shop’s big, communal table is the most social one in the shop. “I’ve seen people picking each other up, sitting next to each other and stuff like that,” says Phil, who didn’t want to use his last name for career reasons.
And if you’re shy when a fetching fellow freelancer sits down opposite you, don’t worry. You probably have hours to muster up the courage to say something — and just as in a more usual work setting, you’ll probably see your “co-worker” again.
“A familiarity can evolve, just as it would in an office where you see your coworkers every day,” says Dennis Powers, author of “The Office Romance,” about workplace-based romances.
But, like traditional office romances, not all relationships work out.
Rachel and her original suitor went out a couple of times after their first date, but the flirtation and romance tapered off. “Now I ignore him as much as possible,” she says of bumping into him at their mutual caffeinated watering hole.
In that way, jilted freelance workers have it easier than those who work in offices: In an office, you’ll undoubtedly run into your ex. But in the coffice, it’s easy to avoid the other person.
“If you were dating from the same coffee place and you ran into some problems and broke up — the person goes and finds his own coffee shop,” Powers says.
Or if you’re very attached to your particular spot, you can move to the other side of the store or switch the hours you work from that cafe.
“I think people who work in an office together are much more cautious,” Rachel observes.
And in the age of e-mail and smart phones, work and home are no longer distinct — and coffice romances are just another way freelancers are changing the rules.
“You’re expected to be a worker, a socialite and your own boss at the same time,” she says.