Meeting in a coffee shop for a drink and a chat is has become a major part of weekly retirement activity – perhaps too major? I have two places that I often go so have loyalty cards for.
The first is the SP2 coffee shop & community centre, where I volunteer on a Thursday morning. I have several friends who I meet there, usually on a Saturday morning, but it can be at other times too. If I go in and am not specifically meeting anyone there is usually someone around whom I know and chat to.
The other regular haunt is the Cathedral Refectory – the plumbery, as it is where they used to do the lead working for the Cathedral roof. There is one friend whom I meet there and we go so regularly that we are sometimes mistaken for Cathedral guides, who I think get reduced rates! We haven’t taken advantage of this mistake, though.
There is a major problem to this – I have decided that I am not sure I really like coffee! The instant stuff is fine but the real stuff is a bit strong and bitter and the milk is a bit filling. In the Cathedral I have started ordering “one shot, skinny” which is usually OK but is still too strong sometimes. In SP2 I have been having a can of Elderflower Pressé when the weather is warm – but that doesn’t count on the loyalty card which only applies to hot drinks. Otherwise I can have a pot of peppermint tea or sometimes a regular latte or cappuccino if I need waking up and it is not near lunch time. When I work there I get a free drink anyway. I used to have a mocha, but I have gone off that at the moment, too.
SP2 is closed on Saturdays over the summer – so where are we going to meet? And the other friend whom I see at the Cathedral, has a sick husband, so is having problems leaving the house for long enough to go into town for coffee! Fortunately I have plenty of other things to do……
So? I don’t have to worry about what I want to drink until September!