Get in line

Ha! Today's task is to buy the person behind you a drink in the coffee shop - brilliant! I love this one! It will totally freak people out!

I would love to work in a coffee shop, to be a barista (possibly a disappointment to family members who had hoped I would have a similar sounding but potentially much more lucrative job), the smell of the coffee and the muffins / pastries, to be amongst people who are relaxing, chatting, working, pausing. I live everything about the coffee shop culture. Even the barista apron. Heaven!

So to buy a coffee for someone is always a pleasure - in fact my wife sometimes will say, after my suggestion of coffee: 'but we've already done that today!' (She does have a point - it could become a very expensive habit).

Buying a coffee for myself and family, friends or work colleagues is an almost daily occurrence for me, buying for complete strangers is another matter. Who is next in line? 

I guess that this is not just about generosity but about connecting, I also think that this is not about a random act of kindness or generosity but the intentional focus on someone other than myself. I use coffee shops because I, like many others, enjoy the experience. Others use them because they are a refuge from work, a place that will accommodate them for the duration of their need, that will allow five child buggies around a small table. They create community, for an hour, for a moment. 

The next in line will receive their coffee, they may receive a conversation (they are bound to ask why!). I think that I will receive much more than they will.

(Also, I will send a coffee to the first person that tells me which coffee shop this image was taken in)

Think Local

Anyone who hears me speak will know that I do not originate from Glasgow, or even Scotland - although my sister recently described me as having English blood and a Scottish heart (a description that I was flattered to read). So I am clearly not a 'local' person. Having lived in 6 major UK cities as well as a couple of suburban and rural areas my local has always been shifting.

What I have discovered as we've moved around the country for the last nearly 28 years is that to learn what an area is really like you have to go local. The local, green grocer, baker, coffee shop etc

Before anyone that knows me comments on this I am fully aware that we get the majority of our shopping from a major supermarket and I am a sucker for Starbucks but as a family we always try to support local business in some way or other.

Our local coffee shop, Delricos on the  Cumbernauld Road, Stepps! serves first class coffee, excellent sandwiches, wraps and rolls and delicious cakes and tray bakes. The staff are very friendly. They also have an excellent artistic wall made from thousands of very small bits of wood.

But

I couldn't even tell you the name of the staff.

So I set myself an additional challenge within #40acts : to visit the shop today, learn the names and tell them they are appreciated as a local community hub. The visit wasn't already part of my plan for today - but it is now! I might even visit some of the other local shops as well!