The Inner Workings of a Coffee Shop Continued...
I pulled into the aged parking lot of the strip mall and parked my car in front of an average looking building that blended in with the other stores. The only distinguishing feature was the big black and dark green sign stating the name of the coffee shop and the two black metal tables each with its own pair of chairs on either side of the door. This particular shop also had a small drive-thru on the 104th side of the store. By small I mean an average truck would not be able to navigate the tight turn. It was 4:34 PM on September sixteenth when I got out of my car and walked up to the double doors. Before I got to the door a man and a women talked happily while leaving the coffee shop. They didn't appeared to be married; although, they seemed to be good friends. One of the things that caught my eye on these two is that they left in such a good mood. They each had huge grins on there faces. From there I proceed to open the door and was hit with a nice cooling wall of air that smelled of freshly brewed coffee. The butterfly wind chime attached to the door jangled quietly as the door opened and closed. In the background the ambiance music can be heard it definitely complimented the overall atmosphere. When you walked in all the tables and booths are off to the left side in a orderly manner and to the right is the cream and sugar table. The tables had a single stand in the center with a faux granite table top, while the chairs were a dark wood with black seat covers. The over all color scheme of Beans and Brew is a dark one not scary dark, but a calming one. I walked to the front counter and order my usual, a small French with a shot of white cocoa. Ready to brew coffee beans in bags and an assortment of pastries were also sold at counter; they probably created the main source of the wonderful smell. A friendly female employee smiled at me as I handed her the cash and place my change in the tip jar. I sat in the farthest booth with my coffee in order to write my observations on paper. As with the tables and chairs the booth followed the theme, except the benches were padded both for the back and butt. Not too many people came in the Thursday evening, but it gave me time to observe the workers in between the occasional customer. Both workers that day were female they couldn't have been older than twenty five years of age, with dark hair and one was slightly shorter than the other. When no one came into the store they worked hard at brewing more coffee and keeping the place clean; however, they did it in such a relaxed manner that impressed me. They impressed me once again when a cute old man with a cane walked in, who was about sixty wearing a checkered sweater vest with blue jeans, and ordered a black coffee. When he hoppled over to the cream and sugar table he spilled it by accident. He turned to the ladies behind the counter a bit of sadness in his eyes and they told him not to worry about it as they quickly got him a new one. The man couldn't have been happy enough and walked out cheery.
I had been to Beans and Brew many time before and had never paid that much attention to the details. I figured that Beans would be a great place to just survive two hours of boredom and get the observation done, but I realized that all the stress of school and my life seemed to slowly melt away. All the problems I had been facing disappeared out the door when that little metal butterfly wind chime rang. It was a combination of the atmosphere and the friendly customer service that was provided at this particular Beans and Brew that calmed and relaxed me. In fact I soon found that by the time I checked the clock it had been three hours instead of the two required. Although many different people find different situations relaxing; I find that a nice quiet room that filled with nice people is relaxing. I think from now on I will use their relaxing environment to study and do other homework of mine. I suppose that Beans and Brews owes a debt to the workers there that make it such a great place and keeps me coming back for more.
My Beans and Brew experience had lead me to believe that the satisfaction and good time I had that got at the shop was to be the same at every one. If I ever do this again I think I will compare the different Beans and Brew in my area to see if the environment is as relaxed and friendly as the one on 104th and Redwood. Now I ask my self the question was it worth it? I believe that by learning where I can go to just forget my stress it is an absolute positive, I think this experienced was worth the small amount of time I put in.
I had been to Beans and Brew many time before and had never paid that much attention to the details. I figured that Beans would be a great place to just survive two hours of boredom and get the observation done, but I realized that all the stress of school and my life seemed to slowly melt away. All the problems I had been facing disappeared out the door when that little metal butterfly wind chime rang. It was a combination of the atmosphere and the friendly customer service that was provided at this particular Beans and Brew that calmed and relaxed me. In fact I soon found that by the time I checked the clock it had been three hours instead of the two required. Although many different people find different situations relaxing; I find that a nice quiet room that filled with nice people is relaxing. I think from now on I will use their relaxing environment to study and do other homework of mine. I suppose that Beans and Brews owes a debt to the workers there that make it such a great place and keeps me coming back for more.
My Beans and Brew experience had lead me to believe that the satisfaction and good time I had that got at the shop was to be the same at every one. If I ever do this again I think I will compare the different Beans and Brew in my area to see if the environment is as relaxed and friendly as the one on 104th and Redwood. Now I ask my self the question was it worth it? I believe that by learning where I can go to just forget my stress it is an absolute positive, I think this experienced was worth the small amount of time I put in.