Working Up

by Dwayne Phillips

I go to a coffee shop every morning. Why? I guess there is a community there.

I go to a coffee shop every morning at seven o’clock. My hashtag is #coffeeandwifi. I do the 21st century equivalent of reading the morning paper and I put notes and links on a blog.

I like the coffee shop. I like the people who work here (see some of their happy faces here), and I like the interaction with the other customers.

For example, one morning:

I hear a woman exclaim, “Oh look, how cute!” I expected to see a small child come in the door with a parent. That happens often here. That, however, wasn’t the case this time.

I see a woman staring into a laptop screen show an expression of horror on her face.

I see an elderly woman smiling broadly as she drinks coffee with an elderly man.

What was so cute? What was so horrifying? What brought such broad smiles? What indeed is influencing the lives of strangers brought into a common place? What creates community.

Perhaps this is a sentimental tribute from a naive older man to a place a like where people gather and show emotions of life.