About a week into my current trip to Palo Alto and Berkeley, I find myself sitting in a place I know all too well: Peet’s Coffee House on University Avenue in Palo Alto — the heart of Silicon Valley. The first one for me, way back in 2008 when I first came here. And countless visits since moving home, moving back, and then moving home again, in the summer of 2015.
Here today, in Berkeley tomorrow — and most likely I will find my way to the original Peet’s Coffee House, from 1966, located on Vine Street in a very familiar place. We lived close by last year. And there is a small story to be told– not a long one, not very much: But last year I found myself talking to the person sitting next to me at the Vine Peets Coffee House.
She recognised me, she said.
Then I recognised her.
We had met before, in the Peets in Palo Alto. Being the theologian that she was and is, she started quoting Icelandic literature for me, in Icelandic. Turns out her mother came from Iceland. Her dad, I believe, from somewhere in Scandinavia. We talked for a while. She knew a lot about the Norwegian composer Edward Grieg. Like me, she sometimes passes time reading music manuscripts — letting the music just play, on the inside. We talked about that.
And then right now, when coming in, I asked the next guy whether I could stretch my computer chord across his table, since he was sitting by the wall electricity outlet. And he was all accommodating smiles, in fact — just friendly.
It often strikes me, when coming here, that people are friendlier than at home. Just like that. Friendlier. And maybe that is an innovation to take home, from this land of entrepreneurs?
All I know is Americans are far from friendly drivers: So don’t overdo it, I’m telling myself. OK. I won’t. But at restaurants, and in cafeterias — who knows; those Americans may be an entirely different tribe?
Worth checking out some time.
Now signing out. Nothing more to say. Anyway, my coffee’s all done.