Former coffee shop owner wannabe
I’ve never particularly felt called to “do” anything in life. I love my life. I love my family and friends. And I like my job ok. But I think I could’ve just as well done something else, if there was just anything else out there more compelling.
The one time in my life when I felt called to a job was in college, when I went through a huge coffee shop phase. Coffee was one of my favorite things in the world, and I felt lucky that I could start my day every day with a warm cup of joe.
My sophomore Christmas break saw me hanging out daily at the 11th Street Expresso House, a cute little coffee shop in an old victorian near campus. I’d get there not long after they opened and stay for a few hours, drinking coffee and reading Anna Karenina. I look back at that month as one of the best times in my life. Granted, I’d just had my computer stolen at school and the girl I’d been dating for some time had just dumped me. But at the coffee shop, none of that existed. That was before wifi, and I could forget the cares of the world and pour myself my own coffee at my favorite hangout. And I thought the coolest thing in the world would be to open a coffee shop of my own.
Well, times change. Before I graduated college, my stomach had decided it didn’t like coffee so much, and what had been a regular staple since I was 14 became a distant memory. Now I drink tea, and there’s not a lot of point in going to a coffee shop for hot tea. I don’t think I’ve sat down in a coffee shop more than once or twice a year in the last five years, and I’m not making plans for opening a coffee shop any time soon.
But just the thought of those mornings at 11th Street makes me smile. I don’t miss the coffee, but I do miss the dream.
July 26th, 2007 at 10:13 am
Nice blog.
I always thought it would be cool to be a baker. All those wonderful aromas. But, I’m not a morning person:)
July 26th, 2007 at 10:15 am
I always figured bakers must be night people, getting up so early.
July 26th, 2007 at 1:00 pm
I lived in Chicago during my 20’s, and I loved that there are corner ‘pubs’ there in most (I guess formerly Irish) neighborhoods. The nice thing about a pub is that you don’t have to drink; you don’t have to do anything. You can sit and read, or play chess or checkers, or just chat with people, or do nothing. It’s strange that in a city of several million people, I felt more of a sense of community there than in my small town of 3,000, now.
July 26th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
Oh how I miss Loretta and her coffee… I’ve always wanted to open a B&B with a coffeeshop downstairs. In a giant victorian house.
But reality hits and well, to be honesy I dont think I could deal with the people!
July 26th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
Sounds like a nice place with good memories, but why would they purposely misspell “espresso”?
July 26th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
I think “expresso” was some old in-joke, but I can’t remember for sure. I do know they intentionally misspelled it.
July 27th, 2007 at 11:53 am
Wow. Clinton had/has a coffee house? Amazing.
July 28th, 2007 at 9:06 am
Yeah, I need to go down there sometime and see the thing. I saw the picture in the magazine. Blows my mind.