It was an identity crisis--were we baristas or...something else? We weren't sure, so she cried out in a half-joking way, "Is there anyone here who can tell me what coffee is all about?"
And in classic Linus fashion, the answer came: "Sure, I can tell you what coffee is all about: It's about love."
You may think I'm crazy for saying that, but hear me out.
And in classic Linus fashion, the answer came: "Sure, I can tell you what coffee is all about: It's about love."
You may think I'm crazy for saying that, but hear me out.
Coffee is all about the people--the people who grow coffee, the people who harvest it, the people who sell it, the people who buy it, the people who roast it, the people who brew it, the people who drink it, and all the people in-between.
In my time as a barista, I've known some that truly warmed me inside and out with their funky, hearty characters--and that goes for both people and coffees!
New crops of new coffees came in every few months, and so, it seemed, did new people. We once built a graveyard display for Halloween of all the coffees we'd loved that never returned to satisfy our longing taste buds. I never saw many of those coffees again, but new coffees came along to expand my palate, to teach me to experience coffee in new ways. Similarly, I never see some of the people who built that display with me anymore, but new people came along to expand my heart, to teach me to love in new ways.
Today is National Coffee Day, and this week marks four and a half years of me making coffee from this coffee company. A LOT has changed in that time--people, coffees, structures, machines, uniforms, products, policies, I got married, etc., but this week I returned back to the basics: no more orders and schedules, I'm just making coffee.
To make this move, I had to say goodbye to some people who I've grown close to, but that is nothing new to me. It seems that in the last 13 months especially, I've said goodbye to so many. I miss them all in different ways, but I'm a better person for having known each of them, and they each hold a special place in my heart.
All of these people have come to me because of coffee. We became a family of co-workers, of customers, a community who shared more than cups of coffee, but cups overflowing with love.
I've said this before and I'll say it again:
Every cup is a communion.
To all the generations of my dear barista family and all the customer-friends we've collected over the years:
I always believed but I never really knew until I met you that coffee really is all about love. Thank you for filling my heart and my cup.
In my time as a barista, I've known some that truly warmed me inside and out with their funky, hearty characters--and that goes for both people and coffees!
New crops of new coffees came in every few months, and so, it seemed, did new people. We once built a graveyard display for Halloween of all the coffees we'd loved that never returned to satisfy our longing taste buds. I never saw many of those coffees again, but new coffees came along to expand my palate, to teach me to experience coffee in new ways. Similarly, I never see some of the people who built that display with me anymore, but new people came along to expand my heart, to teach me to love in new ways.
Today is National Coffee Day, and this week marks four and a half years of me making coffee from this coffee company. A LOT has changed in that time--people, coffees, structures, machines, uniforms, products, policies, I got married, etc., but this week I returned back to the basics: no more orders and schedules, I'm just making coffee.
To make this move, I had to say goodbye to some people who I've grown close to, but that is nothing new to me. It seems that in the last 13 months especially, I've said goodbye to so many. I miss them all in different ways, but I'm a better person for having known each of them, and they each hold a special place in my heart.
All of these people have come to me because of coffee. We became a family of co-workers, of customers, a community who shared more than cups of coffee, but cups overflowing with love.
I've said this before and I'll say it again:
Every cup is a communion.
To all the generations of my dear barista family and all the customer-friends we've collected over the years:
I always believed but I never really knew until I met you that coffee really is all about love. Thank you for filling my heart and my cup.
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| Just a few generations of coffee-family. #somuchloveintheclub |
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