The coffee was good.

by Rod Williams - I had a pleasant experience today.

I go walking almost everyday to help stay healthy. I was in Sevier Park and saw ahead a person at a table with a outdoor sandwich board. My immediate thought is, this is someone allied with BLM and is going to want me to sign a petition. I also thought, if that is true, I am going to take a picture, complain to the Parks Department and write a blog post about it. As I got closer the sign just said "Free Coffee" and not much else.

I can engage people in a friendly manner and either mildly tell them I disagree with their position or just listen to their spiel and keep my opinion to myself. I do not feel an obligation to convince passionate people they are wrong, but I am curious. If someone cares enough about a cause or a point of view, to set up a table and engage people,  I want to know what they are promoting.  I know some people avoid people like that; I approch them.

 I realized it was not an obviously overtly political thing. Maybe a religious proselytizer? Maybe, a support the park, or the school, or the community outreach? Or maybe, someone promoting a coffee shop, or a coffee, or coffee maker?

As I smiled, I asked, "who are you?—what's your spiel?"

He said, "no spiel, I'm just giving out coffee."

I was skeptical,— "no Black Lives Matter? no end the war? no save the planet? —I asked."

"No," he said.

"Why?" I asked, with a smile. "Why are you givng out coffee?"

"OK," I thought, "now I am going to get the religious pitch. Maybe they are Church of Scientology?"

He said something like, "The world has enough unpleasantness and I just want to hand out coffee. I could tell you all about coffee and how it has changed the world."

That was it. No coupons to order the coffee, no invitation to church. Nothing. He did give me a card. It did not say much. We exchanged a few more pleasantries and I left with a cup of refreshing iced coffee.

Do people really do that?  Just hand out coffee to stangers for no reason? I got home and looked up the address and found a website that did not say much and did not reveal any ulteriour motive. I let it drop.

The coffee was vey good.

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