The Coffee Shop Experiment

825 Words2 Pages

Imagine walking into a small, local coffee shop; what is the first thing that comes to mind? Maybe it’s the pungent aroma of coffee beans, or perhaps it is the sound of quiet jazz music playing softly overhead. Perhaps people even appear in this vision. Who are these fellow coffee dwellers, and what is it that they have to say? The answer to this question happens to be quite inspiring.

The Brew is a small coffee shop in downtown Dickinson, North Dakota. What was once a modest church established in 1887 has been transformed into a modern coffee shop unique to the region. Boosting “good drinks, good food, good music, and good people,” The Brew prides itself on providing exceptional service to its customers.

One of those customers happens to be Gene Metzger, an 87 year old retired bookkeeper. Her beverage of choice: black coffee. When asked why she was visiting The Brew, Metzger explained that she was meeting her kids; they had chosen the place. After asked a series of questions, Gene revealed that she would like to visit Japan and China if she could go anywhere in the world. Her reasoning behind this: she has been everywhere else. Metzger also shared some wisdom regarding her life philosophy. Her piece of advice was one her father had always given her, “life is what you make it.”

Another customer at The Brew that morning was Sage Roshau. Visiting from college in Minneapolis, Roshau was waiting for his friend to arrive, drinking loose leaf green tea and browsing his phone to kill some time before she arrived. When asked why he chose green tea, Sage very eagerly replied that he recently lost 25 pounds. He talked about his dream of traveling to Australia, giving a detailed description of his plans to visit the country...

... middle of paper ...

...connection if one is presented. Simply by speaking to these people for 5 to 10 minutes each, I feel like I’ve gained some trust with them. They all smile at me knowingly as they leave. Most of these people I may never see again, but it’s almost like we have this secret connection; they are now a part of an exclusive club.

We pass these people every day with usually no thought. Sometimes we speculate on the lives of the people around us, but most often we look at the ground as they walk by, robotic in our mannerisms. If openly talking to a stranger for 5 to 10 minutes can create the powerful sensation of trust and understanding I experienced, it makes me wonder what kind of world this would be if we bothered to listen to one another for a moment of our lives. There is truly something about a human connection that is unbelievably powerful. It’s oddly inspiring.

Open Document