What happens at a cafe

From the Los Angeles Review of Books, on cafe culture: "Part of the thrill of being in public spaces lies in chance and openness, in giving up perfect control over one's surroundings. That said, 'anything' probably won't happen. There probably won't be a robbery. Divorce proceedings are also unlikely, and so are adoption ceremonies, rain dances — and once you work your way down a list of events from the unlikely to the likely, you realize that cafe behavior is fairly predictable, that this encounter with chance is a constrained one."