Are you the "type?"

Many, many years ago, when my knowledge of coffee shops was limited to being able to find a single coffee shop in Greensboro, I told a girlfriend I had gone to a local coffee shop to visit with another friend. She replied, "I didn't know you were the coffee shop type." Almost 20 years later, I'm still wondering what she meant by that. Since I eventually learned that she wasn't exactly a true friend, I'm assuming that her comment was not flattering.

However, in the last five years, I've begun to compile a composite of the "coffee shop type." I'll give it a shot ...

This morning, for example, I'm blogging in a local coffee shop that is full of children wearing sports gear and their parents. There are kids waiting in line to play a chess game. The kids have had a busy, active morning of athleticism, and are refueling their energy with snacks, hot chocolate, fruit smoothies, etc. It's noisy, chaotic, and I love it!!

Earlier this morning, the shop was humming with a small group of women who get together early, before their kids, husbands, and jobs pull them in many different directions. There was a steady flow of older customers, young adults, middle aged couples, shoppers on their way to or from their daily errands, folks on their way to work, and all of them just needing a customized caffeine drink and contact with a friendly barista before going on with their day.

Last night, there were so many local coffee shops hosting music, open mic, and other events that I couldn't even get them all on the blog's Events page. I logged into Facebook this morning and saw how many more events there are scheduled tonight than I could possibly hope to attend. Folk music, jazz, Christian music, blues, rock, you name it, somewhere in the Triad, it's at a Coffee Shop.

On weeknights, you'll find scrabble games, reading groups, poetry groups, foreign language groups, families coming in for a drink after soccer practice, couples getting coffee on their way home from evening church services, dads connecting one-on-one with their teenaged children. Some shops are perfect for quiet work, studying, reading, and quiet conversations with a friend or date, while others are a great place for meeting new, interesting people you wouldn't meet anywhere else.

Based on the overheard conversations, bulletin board postings, art work, board games, and lending libraries at Triad Coffee Shops, everyone in the Triad is "the coffee shop type." They might not know it yet, but they are!