Posted
by Joel Mathis
June 18, 2006 at 9:30 p.m.
I'd bend over backwards to get my coffee shop back!
![][1]All my adult life, I've had a simple rule: Find a place, and be a regular there.Generally, this has not been a boon to my waistline. When I lived in Parsons, "my place" was a Mexican restaurant. In Emporia, it was a Chinese place - which went out of business shortly after I left town. I don't think I can take credit for keeping it open as long as I was there, but who knows?In Lawrence, "my place" has been a coffee shop. And there ain't no regulars like coffee shop regulars.At [La Prima Tazza,][2] where I make my coffee home, I see the same group of people every morning, stopping in for some caffeine on their way to work. There's Kevin, the school teacher. Tom, the financial planner. Jordan, the museum guy. Keith and D.K., who have time to sit around and chat for an hour. A couple of other people whose names I don't know, but whose faces are familiar after years of seeing them in line, mug in hand, waiting patiently and expectantly.I've heard the baristas talking on occasion. Often, drink choice becomes identity."You should've heard what Bill said today.""Bill?""Yeah, he usually comes in around mid-morning and orders an iced vanilla latte.""Oh, yeah. Bill's his name?"It's community, in its own way. And kind of addicting.Even so, I wasn't too alarmed a week or so back when Andy, the manager, handed me my Sunday morning mug and warned: "We're not going to be open the next couple of days." The shop, it turned out, was replacing the badly worn-out floor.Habits are habits, though, and the next morning I found myself walking to Tazza before remembering it was closed. And because habits are habits, I found Keith sitting on the bench in front of the shop, sipping coffee he had procured elsewhere. I'm told that D.K. joined him later, for their usual morning hashing out of the day's issues.Wednesday morning, though, I drove down to the shop ready to resume my habits. But when I got there, Josh - another regular - was out front peering into the dark interior, looking alarmed.The same thing happened again on Thursday. The floor replacement was taking longer than expected. And the regulars (including myself) were getting itchy.Which is kind of silly. Somebody with a good arm could hit three other coffee shops from the intersection of Seventh and Massachusetts streets. But none of those places were "my place" - for me, or for any of the other regulars.Anyway, the crisis is over. The shop reopened on Friday. Folks were lining up again.But it's all been enough to make me add a second rule to the first. Find a place and be a regular. But have a backup plan. [1]: http://www.igniq.com/images/hot_coffee_220705.jpg [2]: http://www.lawrence.com/places/la_pri...
Comments
Joel 6 years, 11 months ago
About the photo: It was on the first page of images on the Google Image search. Who was I to resist?
MJ Allen 6 years, 11 months ago
I was very grumpy and very sleepy that week. Karen and I stopped by on our way to work two, maybe three times during the replacement. Yeah, Joel, it's a habit. But we can we, any of us, be expected to break our habits before we've had our coffee?
The new floor does look fab though. It feels neat too. It's spongey!
CheyenneWay 6 years, 11 months ago
I agree, The Pink Flamingo will now be my regular habit. Or the Outhouse or that one way out of town. So many to choose from yet so little time! arrrgh Charlie Brown!!!
gaiapapaya 6 years, 11 months ago
The other coffee shops around 7th and Mass suck.
Only in extreme adversity would I do Starbucks...I might even do gas station before Starbucks, just on principle.
mitzibel 6 years, 11 months ago
Ah, Ernesto's. I miss their chicken chimichangas like nobody's business. The only decent restaraunt in that entire shithole excuse for a town.
Joel 6 years, 11 months ago
Did that get blown over by the tornado?
leslie 6 years, 11 months ago
You DROVE to LPT? Joel! You are also addicted to oil!
Joel 6 years, 11 months ago
Well, not from work I didn't.
But: I've got no excuse. Dammit.
mitzibel 6 years, 11 months ago
Yeah, but I'm pretty sure they rebuilt. God, I hope they rebuilt. . .
JayCat_67 6 years, 11 months ago
Actually, I was rather fond of El Palinque in Emporia. I worked across the street and still try to stop there whenever we go through. Unfortunately, I haven't been for a long time. I'm thinkin' road trip.
TheEleventhStephanie 6 years, 11 months ago
Isn't there a Mexican/Chinese place combined in Eudora? Is it any good? (Dare I ask?)
Kill two birds I tell ya.
CafeSiren 6 years, 11 months ago
Okay, LPT has precisely one month before I blow into town for a few days, so let's hope that floor is up and ready by then.
By odd coincidence, I was on my way over to this blog to share a coffee-related video clip:
http://www.boardsmag.com/screeningroom/commercials/2971/
I'm not often left speechless, but this did it.
Joel 6 years, 11 months ago
JayCat: Still very fond of Palenque. I find time for it every time I go back to Emporia.
Siren: I can't open the link this morning!
Joel 6 years, 11 months ago
OK, Siren, watched it twice now. Love it.
But did YOU see the Connie Chung video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLY3dz97jyM
One of the most horrific performances by a public figure in my memory.
balance71 6 years, 11 months ago
Wow. I love it, too. If those shiny people really exist, it explains a lot of things about my mornings.
Anyway, I like the new floor at LPT, but I was so used the old one, that I was momentarily disoriented when I walked in yesterday. I almost fell over. It's funny how a small change can throw off one's mojo.
balance71 6 years, 11 months ago
Hasselhoff is hideously mediocre. Chung is just hideous. I couldn't watch.
CafeSiren 6 years, 11 months ago
Joel, I'm with Balance -- that Chung thing is unwatchable. I lasted 20 seconds.
Thanks for the warning about the floor, B71 -- I'll try to prepare for the upcoming shock.
Marcy McGuffie 6 years, 11 months ago
TheEleventhStephanie: to answer your question - yep, it's called Jasmin's. I've never been, but have heard it's decent. Very odd to combine chinese and mexican into one restaurant...but, it's a married couple who come from different ethnic backgrounds. Why not! The owners are nice.
JoshuaSeraphim 6 years, 11 months ago
I wish I had time for a coffee stop at LPT in the morning. I don't get a break until 9:30, and by them I'm usually too hot for a coffee. So I get a gate-o-rade. At QT. Does that make me lame? Or evil?
Joel 6 years, 11 months ago
Balance, Siren: You've got to watch the whole thing. Otherwise you miss the part where she climbs off the piano in ungainly fashion -- grunting on the way down -- then wiggles her bum at the camera.
I'm not even kidding.
Joshua: How about lamely evil?
leslie 6 years, 11 months ago
What is the context of the Connie Chung video? I'm confused--though mildly entertained--by this whole career suicide move (not that I was aware there was a career to kill anymore--I thought the whole quitting-work-to-get-pregnant scheme ended it long ago)
Joel 6 years, 11 months ago
Leslie: Do you really need context? Isn't it just perfectly awful on its own?
But the context is this: MSNBC canceled her "Weekends with Connie and Maury" show, and this was the farewell...
leslie 6 years, 11 months ago
In a way I admire her. Really, there are times I regret having not burned the bridge. (Though I would hope my flame of glory would be more graceful than that piano dismount.)
Of course, in a couple of months she'll blame it on a painkiller addiction.
chrisgladfelter 6 years, 11 months ago
I LOVE the Connie Chung video! My favorite part is when she lets out a little grunt as she tries to slide off the piano. Her performance reminds me of the bootleg video I have of Charlotte Rae trying out for Elizabeth Berkley's role in "Showgirls." Less skin, though.
Joel 6 years, 11 months ago
chris: (shudder)
Commenting has been disabled for this item.