We often go to any small town and search for a coffee shop because in the daytime, that is often the place where people socialize, just the same as they do in saloons at nighttime. Okay, so the crowd may be different in its makeup from the coffee shop to the saloon, but we can accept that. Over the years we have been to plenty of coffee shops, some good, some not so good. Some of those we once liked no longer exist for some reason or another, and for some, we lose interest for one reason or another, but it's usually because the coffee is not good. We never go to places that serve expensive coffee as they seem to attract a different crowd. The expensive places seem to attract hummingbirds who like sweet frappes and lattes rather than real, dark coffee and those whose thoughts do not run very deep. But we shouldn't be critical, because they too have something to teach us.
Our main interest, along with the coffee is to take note of people and to engage as many as possible in conversation. We learn a lot about the nature of people and the extent to which most show their interesting character.
Surprising, at least to us, is that upscale gasoline stations, presuming you know an upscale gasoline station when you see one, now serve some of the best coffee. The best coffee comes from good beans, well-roasted and brewed rather freshly. If we see a pot on a burner half filled with brewed coffee, especially in an old Sanka orange handled pot, we usually leave and look somewhere else. Modern purveyors of brewed coffee in gasoline stations always brew a self-dispensing jug of coffee that does not sit on a hot burner. Then, the more modern shop has a coffee station where you can select the variety of coffee, and the cup size, and then with a punch of a button there is a freshly brewed cup of coffee.
But, we stray from the theme which is the people we meet at these modern-day watering holes.
Take for example the lottery players. The state lottery game holds just enough hope to keep some people coming back to take their chances. I quizzed our local station about the chances of winning and they pointed with pride that they have had two big winners, both taking home $20,000 from a winning ticket. That would certainly keep some coming back and we have one that always comes back for more tickets. For the last year, he often arrives at noon, which is when we happen to be there too, and buys three tickets, goes out to his car, tests them for wins and (usually) finding no wins, buys three more and then quits and leaves. Sometimes though, he makes many more than two trips back into the store; these extra trips for more lottery tickets fueled by some small wins to pay for the next round of tickets. Apparently, his strategy is to buy three tickets in two trips to the cash register and if not successful, then quit.
One day, we caught his eye as he was leaving and asked "any success today?". That set him into a story of how he is always blessed with luck, telling us of his wartime efforts when he was told by a palm-reading seer that because of the five lines in his palm he would always come back from war. And obviously, he did. He went on to tell that he always has a guardian angel sitting on his shoulder minding over him. He then wandered off and out to his car with the spritely walk of a young teenager despite his age of approximately 60 years.
Then, the other day we observed a man standing in line with his few items to purchase when he saw an elderly lady with a cane about to leave the store, he bolted from his position in the checkout queue to help her with the door and then went on to help her get into her car, all the while holding his goods to be bought. He then came back into the store and took up the last position in the checkout queue. When you look for examples of kindness you can usually find it and today, we did.
Then there is our friend the UPS driver who makes a stop at the store each day to drop off packages and get a soda to take with him. He is an avid Astros fan, but when they broke his trust by using electronics to signal the batter on the next pitch as signaled by the pitcher, he was incensed. No honesty, no loyalty.
Never a dull moment at a coffee shop, especially when it is also a convenience store and gasoline station.
