They're doing homework...every starbucks in town is littered with kids doing homework...and making dates.
That's my beef with American cafes. In Europe, cafes are places you come to see and be seen, to relax, unwind, meet a friend for a chit-chat, get
away from work, enjoy life. It is the very apotheosis of doing nothing. In America, cafes, like everything else, are all about doing something: work, work and only work. Turned into office space. People oblivious to life and humans around, eyes glued to the screen in front of them, watching someone, somewhere else having a life (even if it's a surprised kitty's life).
And don't get me started on choices. In Europe, I would order my coffee, my cognac and my ice cream, at the same place, often together. Here, if I want a coffee, have to go to Starbucks... want an ice cream?... look for a Haagen-Dazs... and to get a cognac with either?... oh, my!
Rant over.