Episode #004: Stories from behind the cafe counter, Part two

After running coffee houses for over 10 years, Nick and Linda continue to spend time remembering some amusing stories of interaction with different customers. To finish they do some quick questions with a former barista, Sally.

Living and working in a community public space means coming into contact with many different people from a variety of walks of life. One of the delights of humankind is our diversity. Too often we celebrate similarities and uniformity. However there is something occasionally amusing when we come together in a mutual space such as a cafe.

With hundreds of mums and Dads who frequented CLO coffee houses in Leeds, there was only one Messy Mum. For some reason, even though there were so many parents hanging out, one mum would come in regularly and hang out with her son, and no matter how little food she had, there would always be a trail of food around the seat, table, floor and probably crumbs leading up to the door. The funny thing was that whenever you mention messy Mum to other staff, everyone would know exactly who we were talking about.

Then there was Holiday Dad. The terrible assumption that because a Dad came in on his own with his two girls, would mean that his story would follow that of Jude’s Law’s character in the Holiday movie. We all assumed he was a widow, and that he brought his girls into the cafe to treat them to the simple things, and put a smile on their faces. Naturally his working wife appeared after about 6 months down the line but he still remains holiday dad 10 years on.