Something that there’s more than enough shops doing, but it’s what happens on the side that’s important.
What am I talking about? Coffee shops!
God knows there’s a Starbucks on almost every corner. There’s Daz Boog coffee shops. The Human Bean.
Then there’s the little mom and pop shops.
And they all serve the same product – Coffee. Some is good. Some leaves a little to be desired. Some is pretentious. Others down home.
But this isn’t about the coffee.
Coffee is just the lubricant for what makes a coffee shop run. What does it need to lubricate?
Human interaction.
One of my favorite shops is a little place called The Blue Mug. The coffee is good but nothing exciting. But visiting it is interesting. Often, my partner in crime, Craig Carlson and I go there. And it’s interesting to see what happens inside.
There’s this little guy who has a bit of a learning disability. Anywhere else, he’s going to be passed by.
Everyone talks to him there.
An older couple with a dog that’s older than they are. Same story. Everyone talks to them and pets the dog.
A couple of local police officers wander in. As long as Craig and I are in there, their money is no good. They end up talking to people of every walk there.
At the very least, it gives you, the owner of your overworked brain, a chance to unplug. A chance to sit back and do nothing for a few minutes except enjoy coffee.
I can’t help but wonder if the world might not be a better place if treaties were negotiated in coffee shops. If major differences weren’t worked out there, would the world be a better place?
I don’t know, but at least they’d talk.
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William R. Ablan, Police Mysteries 
Yes!
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Sounds like a great place. World needs more places like that. There is an Italian restaurant/bar near us. The employees treat other like family and the customers are treated the same way. If you don’t like something, they will replace it or tweak it, no problem. Everyone feels welcome, whether a regular or first timer.
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I love those places. We had a place in the Valley that was like that. Two brothers ran this place called the Romeo Lunch. It was a dump with aspirations to be a dive and it turned out the best cheeseburgers in the world. it wasn’t uncommon to have a tour bus with some rock or country band in there playing pool with the locals and eating those cheeseburgers. One day (it was a Saturday), I was the road deputy. I get a call from a girl I know telling me to get down there right away. “What’s going on?” I asked. “Just get down here. You won’t believe this!”
I walked in and Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Waylon Jennings were there playing for beer and cheeseburgers. They’d been hunting up in the mountains, hadn’t seen a things and came down to bag some lunch. They ended up giving an impromptu concert for the locals.
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What a neat experience. The most famous person we have seen so far is our former Congressman and local distillery owner. Didn’t appreciate him nearly enough at the time until he was replaced by someone who jury-rigged the primary twice. The state shut down the jury rigging and Trump’s endorsement of another candidate made him a not missed two term wonder.
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sounds good
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