Coffee When you NEED it
Chain coffee shops are still full of people, which means kindness can be found there.
Coffee When You NEED It
My phone says its -4 degrees this morning. The small town coffee shop I’d driven to in West Dundee was closed, an apologetic sign taped to the door. I stood there in the cold and said “Harumph!” out loud, and now I am one closed coffee shop away from becoming a curmudgeonly old man.
I got back in my car and drove until I spotted the orange glow of a Biggby Coffee. I know it’s a chain, but shut up.
As I entered the warm shop, the barista, Riddhi, greeted me from behind the counter and I heard angels singing. So, I may have been a little over-enthusiastic about finding her shop open. She didn’t flinch. Within minutes I was coffeed, warm-pumpkin-cheesecake-muffined, and settled at a table. She then asked if I wanted her to turn down the music since I was working. Um…no, but thank you for asking.
That’s the kind of small-town Midwest kindness I’m always trying to capture in my writing. The gesture that costs nothing but says everything about a place and its people.
Turns out that Biggby is headquartered in East Lansing, Michigan, which explains a lot. Some of my favorite people live in Michigan.
I’ll keep searching for those local coffee shops in tiny Midwest towns, the ones where everyone knows everyone and the coffee tastes like community. But this morning, when I really needed it, Biggby, and Riddhi, reminded me that those coffee shops don’t have a monopoly on thoughtful gestures. Sometimes kindness finds you right where you are, even at a chain off the highway on the coldest morning of the year.