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Café culture: rituals, economies, and embodied time
The café is more than a backdrop; it is a cultural institution with its own temporalities and values. In Italy, as the image subtly suggests, cafés are sites of quick rituals as much as leisurely gatherings: espresso at the bar, a quick chat with the barista, a croissant at dawn. The verbs chosen reflect these rhythms: uscire (to exit) and aspettare (to wait) mark movement and pacing; versare (to pour) and mescolare (to stir) enact the tactile labor that transforms raw materials into consumable pleasures. These gestures compress social roles and expectations — the barista’s steady competence, the patron’s small, repeated acts of civility, and the unspoken etiquette surrounding timing and interaction.
