33/100: Coffee Talk
This vignette is one in a series of 100 days detailing what happens at my local library.
In the library’s atrium is a café called Emma’s Torch. I’ve never been — if you’re a regular reader of this series you’ll know I like to bring my coffee from home, preferably in a reusable mug that ostentatiously signals to the world how much I care about the planet.
But given my little spill mishap last week, coupled with the reality that this series is in its thirties now and therefore should try new things lest it grows stale and boring, I decided to forego my regular routine and grab something from Emma’s.
The café is nestled into the far right corner of the atrium and serves pretty standard fare: fancy lattes, bagels, muffins, sandwiches, and some sad looking bananas that no one ever buys. A green sign with large white lettering hangs above the espresso machine and reads:
Thank you for your support while we teach and learn.
The sign goes on to explain, in smaller print below, how Emma’s works with refugees, asylees and survivors of human trafficking to provide them with culinary training as well as employability and equity training. The café is just one branch of a non-profit social enterprise, which works with some of the largest refugee resettlement organizations in the world and offers classroom and apprentice opportunities for newly arrived emigrants. As such, it’s a safe bet that some of the baristas are new to the job, so give them a minute.
It makes sense that they chose to set up shop here; the whole prioritizing learning / individual empowerment over maximized efficiency for profit is a very Brooklyn Public Library move.
There’s one man ahead of me in line. The young woman behind the counter seems to know him; she chats cheerfully to him about the unwelcome cold weather and inquires about someone named Lily. The conversation’s tone suggests they’re both genuinely enjoying the small talk. When my turn comes, she gives me a big smile and asks me to bear with her for ONE second while she switches out the coffee pots.
It’s a far cry from Starbucks, where chronic stress and an overworked demeanor appear to be part of the job description. The barista is busy, yes, but she’s not drowning. Instead she moves at a normal pace, taking orders, making them, and handing them over, all the while seemingly enjoying herself, which rubs off on the customers. I’d venture that the service is in fact faster than the weird assembly line one gets accustomed to at corporate coffee chains, it only feels more leisurely thanks to the absence of chaos that we’ve come to associate with both Starbucks and productivity. Here, no one is making faces or tsk-ing or muttering under their breath, suggesting they have somewhere important to be. Here, we are just here.
The laid-back environment of Emma’s is akin to the unrushed ethos of the library, of perusing and being present. It’s an attitude we seldom see in practice anymore, and I suspect that the green and white sign gets some of the credit for everyone’s patience. When I pick out the keywords from it: support, teach, learn. It’s some of the kindest verbiage I’ve set eyes upon in recent memory. Most signs these days say things like “[blank] of any kind will NOT be tolerated”. Famously, the head offices at Meta display a sign that reads move fast and break things.
It’s pretty clear that the people who support and teach and learn are happier than the ones who are move fast and break things and also not tolerate things. And yet, the Meta mentality dominates, and is pushed on us everywhere we go — except the library, and as I learned today, Emma’s Torch. Going against the grain can be scary, especially if it feels like you’re the only one doing it, but it can also make way for aha moments about why we’re all so tired and anxious all the time. Plus, sometimes a cup of coffee made by someone else — especially when that someone else is working somewhere that doesn’t make her feel tired or anxious — tastes better than the one you get at home.
You see what can happen when you switch up a dominant behavior?
Thanks for reading!
