Biography Series
role Barista
region Lancaster, Minneapolis
effect Ditto Looper X2
continuity 1610
tasting notes Heirloom Tomato, Kiwi, Brown Sugar
in conversation
Was there a childhood dream you used to have about growing up?
I don’t know if this counts as a dream, but I have this old memory that’s accidentally permeated like, my entire life so far. I was still young, so the memory is a bit hazy, but also old enough to understand there was a future that I might have to figure out at some point. I used to go with my mom to this place, New Holland Coffee, in my hometown. I’d watch all sorts of people coming and going; the baristas entrenched in their weird little world of coffee grinds and milk froth. As a really young kid observing it all, I was just convinced that I would work there one day—that that was what being a grown up looked like.
You were so young you can hardly even remember it? That seems a bit early to be caffeinating a life.
Oh, it was. *laughs*
It was a bit later that I was drinking coffee as a hobby (habit?), but it was still really young. I think my mom tried to keep me off the caffeine buzz for a while, but that didn’t work out at all. She used to let me have one cup per holiday, since those were special times. Then one day I finally found a cup de grace: “shouldn’t we be celebrating everyday like a holiday?” That’s the sort of naive 10-year-old checkmate logic that moms have no defense for. So she relented and let me discover my very first dopamine addiction.
Wow. Bless her heart.
Yeah, Connie’s great.
You said you had thought you’d work at New Holland one day—any idea why that was?
I’m sure I didn’t know this back then, but nowadays it’s become clear to me that coffee is just a general passion of mine. There’s no competition in it to me, making it for other people just makes me happy. If I manage to slow down and remember that it’s something I enjoy being a part of, all the other aspirational pursuits of my life clear up and sharpen. I really like having one-on-ones with people, and this is such a down to earth day job if you let it be—it just begs for one-on-one interactions with whoever just ordered a latte. So in a way, it was like my childhood self saw that culture at New Holland and just attached to it, since it was so much more obvious to me back then to just do things that were simple and light to my soul. Maybe that sounds dramatic.
It sounds like when people talk about self-fulfilling prophecies, almost.
Yeah, probably very close to that sort of thing. Sometimes I still get a bit of doubt that it makes sense for me, but I think for better and for worse, it’ll just always be a part of my life. That and Spiderman. Man, I love Spiderman.
top five Amazing Spiderman #801
Rice Boy Sleeps — Jonsi & Alex
Ram Dass
The Glass Bead Game, Hesse
Waking Up with Sam Harris