As a high school student in 1980 my friends and I used to ditch school (I was a "bad girl"), to walk nearly a mile to the local coffee shop on Littleton Boulevard. We would sit for hours over a bottomless cup of diner-style coffee for $1.25. What FUN!! We talked about what we did last Friday night, do some homework, then talk about what to do next Friday night. It was a place that we felt welcome and accepted.
For years that was my coffee experience (which I totally loved) ... those diners and breakfast spots serving coffee where I could sit for hours on end. I could watch people, meet people, read a book, write in my journal, and smoke some cigarettes (yes - IN the diner). It brought me peace of mind. Ahhh. It was more about the experience than the coffee, but I needed both for this outing to be fulfilling.
Jumping to today, the spring of 2010, our country has experienced a decline in family diners and cafes; the heart and soul of our communities ~ the "mom and pops". They are being replaced by national chains with million dollar marketing budgets, store prototype models, and plastic servers speaking canned words of welcome through painted smiles while wearing logo-donning aprons. Gag. As Mark Overly of Denver's Kaladi Brothers Coffee said in a speech he gave at the Peace Love and Coffee Extravaganza last August, "they look like and dress like the real thing, but there is no soul behind the facade."
A sign in the yard of "The Beachcomber Coffeehouse" in Trinidad, CA
Thank goodness for the sprouting of locally owned coffeehouses all over America! I love them! As of last year, I hear the US is some 12,000 strong. The owners are people like you and me. Many of them are expressing their dream of providing a center for their community to gather and learn about each other. I tip my hat to those owners who offer their hearts and souls to fulfilling a dream and becoming integral threads in the fabric of their neighborhoods.
Not only are they serving their communities, but by the nature of the coffee bean's origin, many are embracing the global economy and are deeply involved in the lives of the growers where they purchase their beans. And if they are not, they have aligned themselves with a local roaster who is. Not only THAT, but we the coffee-lovers are able to enjoy amazing coffees made with love from real and passionate people. Well worth my $4.00 any day.
See you at the corner coffeehouse! I'll be the one sitting in the old, green crushed-velvet sofa drinking a dark, rich latte from a chipped one-of-a-kind mug peering over my laptop and smiling from ear to ear!
