I have mentioned before that I work at a coffee shop in our church. It is a not for profit coffee shop ministry that our church has been running for six years. In Wisconsin, for the last year, we have been in a political mess basically to sum it up. Our governor was recalled and as of a week ago won the recall election and is still in office. So a little over 50% of the state is happy that the governor is in office and a little under 50% of the state is upset, to say the least, that our governor kept his office. In the coffee shop, we get folks on both ends of the aisle who come in for their morning pick me up. As a coffee shop barista, my job is to not be politically polar. We have had a sticky situation or two in the last year, but no one has left and not come back so I think we have done pretty well.
I do have conversation ammunition though when things look like they might be going in the wrong direction. That is garden talk. Almost everyone enjoys a good garden or garden related topic. If they don’t have a garden, they usually will have a tree that is giving them headaches, or a vine that needs pruning, or a bird that they are looking to attract to their yard. The topics can be endless. If all else fails, rain is the trump card. Do we need rain? Have we gotten rain? Is there rain in the forecast?
It doesn’t always pan out, sometimes we have folks walk in who are just so focused on politics that it’s impossible to turn it around. In that case, I find that responses like “yes, that’s what they say.” Usually work ok or “I heard that on the news the other day.”
Working in a coffee shop is more than just knowing how to make a skinny caramel mocha. It’s also knowing when to talk and when to keep your opinions to yourself.
The Farm Wife
p.s. I had a virus on my computer and had to take a small break from my blog. My computer is better and my garden is growing so I am back and ready to start blogging.
I get what you mean about gardening being a great neutral topic for all sorts of folks. Much of my exposure to people with different ideas about politics, religion, and lifestyles comes through garden blogs and conversations about gardening, and I love that I have a hobby that helps me get exposure to a more diverse set of people in a relatively frictionless way.
I have enjoyed the garden blogging community also. It really is amazing how everyone is so different, but have some kind of interest or tie to gardening. I can think of one guy in particular at the coffee shop who comes in and we could not be more different, but he loves to garden and so do I.
I love the idea of gardening as a topic that can get past political differences; and this is a strategy with a proud tradition. In Andrea Wulf’s The Founding Gardeners, she tells the tale of a stalemate in the Continental Congress being resolved by taking everyone on an outing to John Bartram’s garden.
I can absolutely see that happening. Thanks for sharing!