Week 2: For the Love of Koffie

Welcome back. I'm not sure if that's directed at you or directed at me. Writing in such a public way still requires a bit of a re-wire and reset so bare with me. I'm sitting here in a cafe on a Sunday morning watching the normal hustle of people coming and going. There are families and tourists and students and animals. The idea this week is pretty simple - simply buy people drinks at a cafe. I've been so nervous up to this point and it took a lot of time just to figure out how I was going to ask the barista to take the money and pay for each of the drinks. There was a point yesterday when I considered shutting down the blog and abandoning the idea. That point alone made me realize I do need this for myself.

I sat down and for some reason I just figured everything would be anonymous, but as the first person with a free drink sat down near me with a cheers and a thanks, I suppose it is not (the barista keeps pointing at me). However, all of the customers seem to be Dutch native and I don't actually understand the conversations that are happening.  Is there surprise, happiness, awkwardness or all of the above? I have to admit, I am a bit curious.

But what about me? Isn't this about me? I feel content again and I'm happy to simply watch other people be happy. I love the randomness of it all - it's silly and strips away the stress. Free or reduced drinks at a cafe might be something happening during an opening or planned event, but that all seems so regular and boring, akin to marketing. This is good for my heart.

The last 30 minutes seem very surreal.   The last guy to receive a free drink just waved and smiled at me. He radiated gratefulness - lots of it. He made my day. Great stuff!