why are we WWOOFing?: part one

The place itself is easy to love. The moment you walk through the front door, you are welcomed in by the sweet scent of freshly ground coffee. There’s the high, tin ceiling, rich wood display cases, the intricate tiled floors, and the burlap sacks filled with green coffee beans from all over the world. Your drawn to the cherry red roaster that hums while filling the surrounding city blocks with the perfect aroma of smoky, roasting coffee. And of course, there’s the celebrity owners who are often engaged in chit chat with the loyal patrons. It’s the kind of place you walk into and all of your senses are consumed. Monkey Joe Roasting Company. My first job.

In the beginning, like every sixteen year old, I was just happy to have a job. But over the course of six years, and without really realizing it, I developed a deep connection with the shop. There was something fulfilling about arriving to work in the cool, dark morning, warming up the machines behind the counter, preparing the first pot of coffee, and awaiting the rush of folks as they made their way in to start their day. There was something remarkably special about working in a ‘Mom and Pop’ shop that was built from the ground up by people who genuinely cared about their business, their employees and their customers.

I have a particularly fond memory of one specific day, a couple months into the job. During a typical, sunny afternoon shift, a young guy donning ripped jeans and a popped collar walked through the door. He ordered a drip coffee and a toasted bagel, I thought my heart would explode. Nearly ten years later, Eric is now my husband and has become the most important person in my life. 

For me, working at that cafe was much more than a job. At times, it was a place of refuge, a place to be around others, a place to learn, and a place to be inspired. It is where I found a sense of community with my hometown. It’s where I developed a taste for specialty coffee. It’s where I discovered that a cafe is not just a place to get a pick me up and that coffee is much more than a drink we enjoy each morning.

To be continued...