Where Do We Go from Here?

vii.

     It is eleven o'clock in the morning and I am doing my morning shift as a cashier/barista in our local coffee shop. It is a few blocks away from the campus, just enough so I can run for my next class every after shift. There are only three customers here, one is a middle-aged man working with his laptop and the other two is a couple having their late breakfast.

     "Good morning, welcome to Burb's!" I shout. I just finished cleaning the counter and as I lift my head to look for my last customers before my shift ends I see Rocky opening the door for two of our patrons.

     The patrons are sisters in their 70's and they always get their morning coffee here, usually with a different argument every time.

     "Well, thank you son. Manners do maketh a man," Mrs. Winscon says as she walks weakly towards the counter.

     "Good morning, Mrs. Winscon, the usual?" I ask with a wide smile on my face. I can't say the mandatory capitalism-driven smile is always real, but today I can safely say I don't feel like I'm being forced to do it. 

     "Yes, please, two of those," she answers sweetly. I nod at her sister, Mrs. Stanton, as a greeting and she gives me a smile back.

     "That'll be four dollars, Mrs. Winscon," I inform her despite knowing she already has the exact amount on her hand.

     She hands me their pay and I punch it on the cash register. I tear the freshly-printed receipt and hand it to her. "Thank you for giving me the exact amount, here's your receipt. You can sit, I'll just serve you your take-out order,"

     "Lovely girl," Mrs. Winscon remarks, "I told you it's nicer here than that Starsbucks," she whispers to her sister.

     "Well, they have nice pastries there Emma," I hear Mrs. Stanton say as they take a seat on the nearest table.

     "I'll wait, do their orders first," Rocky suggests leaning over the white wooden counter.

     "That's what I plan on doing, sir," I say as I move from the counter into our coffee making station which is just a few side steps away.

      They do have nice pastries there in 'Bucks', I must agree, but Burb's takes pride in being a refuge for the locals. You can see with its rustic interior that this establishment has been here for 30 years and it doesn't plan on changing. We have wooden tables and chairs that don't match each other, indoor plants that are sloppily placed in the corners of the shop and jars, milk crates and whisker baskets as our year-round decor. Burb's just screams 'warm' and 'chaotic', but we love it, regardless.

     Even when the big coffee chain opened in the east of the suburb, Burb's held its ground because the locals love it. I guess nostalgia plays a huge part of it, they can't let it go. And then there's also guilt, you know those things that hold a special place in your heart but you know something better exists and if you patronize the latter, you feel like you're betraying something? Well, that's Burb's for everyone.

     Then there's our signature Burb Brew and Empanada which I can vouch for. Whenever my Dad goes home from work when I was little, I always get excited when he has a Burb Paper Bag in hand which means there's a couple of Burb Empanadas for me and my brother. Years later, I can still eat it for dinner and have no complains.

     After pouring enough hot water into the ground coffee bean sitting perfectly on a filter and on our signature paper cup, I toss the filters aside and tightly close the cups with the lids.

     "What's your order, San Jose?" I figure I should take his order first before serving this order to the lovely ladies.

     "I don't know actually," he confesses as his eyes scan our hanging chalkboard menu.