Hello Beautiful People.
Yeah you, there at your end of the
internet connection! I know you’re gorgeous!
Anyway,
 |
| A nearly empty Caramel Latte mmm.... |
I sit here, sipping slowly at my currently too hot caramel
latte, in a coffee shop, you know what I mean every coffee shop is the same. It’s
a place where you either sit alone, or are fully engaged in conversation.
You can see all types of relationships around you in one
place. The very beginning of a brand new relationship, ones just starting. A
typical cute scene, two people, smiling at one another at first, cheeky glances
over a book or laptop. Finally one is brave enough to go over. The "Are
you on your own?” the “I haven’t seen you in here before" or the
"what are you working on?" or the simple "can I join you?”. And soon
enough smiles and laughter soon spill over their coffee cups. It’s sweet, it’s
new, and it’s innocent.
Then there are friendships, a few types are seen like old
and informal, usually the loudest in the shop, their solid friendship only
bound tighter by the shared glue that is caffeine. They will talk about
everything and anything for as long as one will let the other.
There are the busy “business meeting over coffee”. Two birds,
one stone. Caffeine and a meeting. Boom. Done. But don’t be fooled if you are
invited for a coffee with a potential employer, they don’t want to talk about
your dogs or family, they are there on business and this is an interview. And it’s
formal. It’s ON right now.
There are the people who haven’t seen each other for years,
decades even and the coffee shop is mutual territory, nowhere too scary, nowhere
too personal. It’s not too loud, but a place you can talk and splurt your life story
since you last met. You know you have pre-rehearsed what you’re going to say
and also what you’re not. Everyone who you meet you tell an altered version of what’s
happened to you and your life. Not lying, just not telling everything. Jesus
did it, you know those years that cannot be accounted for in his life? Yeah
those are his "I aint gonna tell you that" moments. *if he’s real
that is.
There are colleagues becoming friends, sharing more than
just an office together but sharing their lunch and downtime with one another,
this making their relationship stronger over the shared fix of coffee.
There are the groups of friends, the last nights story
tellers, the "you-won’t-believe-what happened"ers and the "I-have-so
much-to-do-right-now"ers.
There are the people sharing secrets, whose tears, in both
laughter and sadness run into their cups. And obviously there are their
audiences. The friends, the best friends, the “I couldn’t live a day without
you” friends, the “NOWAYS” sayers, the motivators, and the “Of course I will
always be here” friends.
Sometimes there are the break ups, there are the breakdowns,
there are the awkward meetings to return your exes scarf that you knew looked
better on you anyway but now you’re going to sit here and drink your coffee
alone... without their scarf.
Then there are the goodbyes.
the walkouts, the storming aways, the “I am so upset right
now I’m going to leave without drinking or even taking my coffee with me”. But
there’s also the "this was great" the "I’ve got to go now"
the "I’ve got a meeting in in an hour"
There is the "we should do this again sometime"
the "same place same time?" and the “we need to do this more often".
Friendly, not committing to too much and easy to reschedule.
And finally there’s the "I hope I’ll see you again in
here" or maybe, just maybe the "here's my number.... call me?"
Coffee shops across the world are more than a place to drink
an admittedly overpriced hot beverage that burns you at first and then starts
to taste good only once you have lost sensation in your mouth. Coffee shops,
your Starbucks, Costa, café Nero and other large brands or the little ones one
few know of, they are all the same, they are a hub of communication and
relationship formation.
Maybe next time you’re sat in a coffee shop, anywhere in the
world, you may notice these relationships around you or you may just be one of
them. Whether you have a spiced pumpkin latte or English breakfast tea, the
power of a hot beverage is wonderful. They make both good and bad times just a
little bit better, just a little easier to comprehend. So if you have good news
or bad news, grab a coffee, think it through, and it won’t seem quite so
overwhelming.
Take care kitten, and Thank you for reading this enormous
post! As a thank you, we should share a coffee together, sometime?
Claire xx
