I just want to sit in an empty cafe

To let my thoughts bounce off empty spaces

Sometimes I want to leave the bubble of my grey apartment (it’s lovely, it’s just painted grey) and enter the bubble of another place. To get out of my head. To get a new perspective. To feel less isolated and trapped in this non-peaceful time of my life. This usually means going to a coffee shop. In that regard, I’m spoiled. I live in the city where coffee shops spawn and spread swiftly like some kind of invasive fungus regardless of the conditions around. Even now — with the ongoing Russian invasion — Kyiv’s coffee culture is bulletproof and unyielding. Brave coffee shops of Ukraine.

I sit and work in a recently-opened coffee shop called Parking. It’s called parking because… there’s parking in the dwelling next to it. Both parkings are elements of what used to be an Arsenal Factory. A few years ago, the factory was renovated — I shall even say reinvented — and now it’s a place where rich people gather to spend their money. There are so many places here to get broke unless you’re — of course — rich. During the day, rich people work in the rich co-working called Creative Quarters. During the night, they eat rich food, drink rich drinks and attend rich parties. In other words, working hard to keep the economy rich in these difficult times.