Sometimes Enough is Enough

I think that if there is one thing that we as humans all have in common is that we all wish to belong. It doesn’t really matter the group, just to know that there are others who share interests during our journey through life. I don’t think that the interests of most other people are worth being interested in, but I would imagine they feel the same about me and my interests.

One of the ways that I connect with the rest of the world is by watching how other people manoeuvre through their lives. My favourite place to do this is in a coffee shop. There is a constant stream of people from all walks of life coming in and going out at all hours of the day. There are people coming in on their breaks, coming in to pick up coffees for the co-workers, people meeting to catch up on gossip, interviewing for jobs, reading the paper and some are there doing the same thing that I am doing. J.K. Rowling wrote an international best selling book sitting in a coffee shop.

My son lived in Montreal for a couple of years and one of the many things I liked was that there were neighbourhood restaurants. These tiny places would seat just a small number of people and the menu had very little variety. The people eating in these places generally live in the neighbourhood and are regulars. Often they don’t look at a menu and they have pretty much the same thing every day. Beats buying groceries. The owners work hard, but seem to be content having regular customers and are happy to make a good living. They don’t have the desire to open a string of franchise operations across North America; at least I don’t think they do. Sometimes, enough is enough.

 

Louise and I found one of these places in Calgary a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, it isn’t in our neighbourhood but it is encouraging that there are some in Calgary. The place is called “John’s Breakfast and Lunch”. It is owned by John and staffed by family, John is the chief cook with the son helping out and his daughter and wife doing duty as wait staff. You are greeted with a welcoming smile and a cup of coffee if that is your poison. The food is typical fare, nothing fancy, but there is a goodly amount and so far we haven’t been disappointed. We have been three times so far and our faces and orders were remembered. By the end of the last time we were there, we were talking like old friends and left with a smile on our faces.

They have found their niche and seem to be happy doing what they were put on the planet to do. I am glad they are on the planet too and hope that more people learn to enjoy their lives working at whatever they choose to do. Hopefully, some of those happy people will open a new favourite place just around the corner from my house. Until that happens though, I can be happy that I will be able to walk into “John’s Breakfast and Lunch”, sit down and watch people move through their lives.