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Dec 14, 2022, 04:31 PM
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Member Since: Jul 2019
Location: Downtown Vibes, California
Posts: 15,701
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MuseumGhost
Dear *Beth*,
I do that, too----jump ahead in my thoughts, and focus on the next big GOOD thing that's going to happen. It can get us through an awful lot, looking forward to something else.
Your description of working in a cafe at this time of year sounds really fun and satisfying. I had a job like that, long ago, that I adored. It was a very simple little gourmet shop close to where we lived, in a genteel old neighborhood not far from the College. It, too, became a sparkly, friendly, warm little place to be at Christmas. We carried lines of beautiful imported items, like biscuits from England and sauces from France. It always smelled of great coffee, spices, and whatever was being prepared for the small deli, in the back. It was tiny, but it was festive.
Great memories. Thanks for the reminder!
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Yes! Your shop job sounds so similar. Genteel old neighborhood, one block from a college that is nearly 100 years old. That cafe was a gathering place for artists, musicians, poets, literaries...in fact, the cafe has found its way into a number of published novels.
The owner finally decided to retire after 40 years in business. An enormous loss to the infamous NorCal world of indie coffeehouses. Bit by bit, they have closed, then covid smashed them to bits - the very few that were left.
To my knowledge, which I believe is correct, only one original remains, the Cafe Trieste, located in San Francisco's fabulous North Beach district. Many a book of Beat literature was penned there, and a few successful screenplays, as well. I've had afternoons at the Trieste, sitting alone for hours at a tiny table, my back against a warm wall, squished on both sides by other cafe patrons, listening to the music of several languages being spoken, sneaking a few hungry gazes at the (quite!) gorgeous (they always are, somehow) Italian man working the espresso machine, basking in the steamy warmth of the place inside from the chill of the SF fog cupping my hands around my warm cappuccino mug...oh, I could live there. And a funny thing: in the center of the cafe stands a phone booth. With a quite-functioning telephone inside. The Madonna, herself.
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