Picture this – It’s a Sunday morning and you’ve just woken up to the blissful sounds of…. well….no alarms. There’s nothing to do. No agenda, no lists, no work, just a whole day to do anything you please. That thought makes you smile. You take your time wriggling out of the covers and reach for your phone (no judgments here. We do it too). There’s a message. The gang wants to meet for coffee. Great! Finally, a party with no hangover repercussions. “I’m in. See you at 4”.
Well, not so soon. Reality check; COVID-19, social distancing, quarantine, and a whole bunch of scary words. See you at .? More like see you in 4 months.
So here’s a new picture to imagine – what happens to our coffee shops now? Will they survive this period? Only time will tell, but here are our two cents:
Coffee has always been a catalyst for conversations. Conversations lead to familiarity, and familiarity leads to friendships. So, in short, coffee = friendships. And as far as we know, no pandemic in the world can come in the way of human connections like that.
Will it take time to go back to our “normal”? Yes. Could there be a “new normal”? Possibly. Will we find space for coffee shops in our new normal? We most definitely will.
With some time for recovery and adequate precautions (word of the year), there’s no doubt we’ll be back in our favorite cafès, drinking coffee made by our ffavoritebaristas, on “our” tables again. We’ll sit by a window and watch the city come back to life (more mindfully we hope). We’ll leave smelling like a Bath & Body Works candle; of freshly ground coffee and cookies. Couples will meet there again. Freelancers will make deals there again. You’ll come in after the gym again and brunches will take place once again.
Till then, sit tight, our friends and patrons of coffee. Think of your coffee shops and their employees, the roasters, the farmers, and the whole lot. Keep them in your mind, for all the times they teamed up to lift your spirits high. Donate if you can, order online if you can, and gift if you can. Or just wait till they open up again, and visit if you can.
That’s all for today folks. Our 4 pm cuppa joe calls. See you on the other side.
