Wednesday, March 9, 2011

can i just be honest with you? [rhetorical question]. writing on every cup that i hand out every day is ... well, exhausting. sometimes i only do it because it's expected or because people ask. and sometimes, just sometimes, i just don't feel like it. [gasp!]

would my customers actually be okay with getting an encouragement-less cup? would i actually be okay without wearing the 'encouraging barista' hat for a day?

truth is, i had no idea that something so small would become so huge and demanding.

truth is, though i would be the first one to tell that you words have power, i didn't know that writing inspirational words on coffee cups had this much power.

and i certainly didn't think that 'just a CUPel of words' had the ability to make someone's day to the point where they would call the store, ask us if we write on the cups personally, and tell us how much the words on their cup impacted them today.

i didn't know that a 'few seconds of my time' could "solve five months of conflict" at a customer's work as a lady pointed out to me today before she walked out of my store feeling like a million bucks.

and i certainly didn't know that this whole cup thing would be the topic of discussion in downtown offices and around board room tables, as i'm reminded of on an almost daily basis by the people on the other side of the counter.

or that a picture of my cup would end up on twitter - or on some random girl's facebook. or that a cup would be found sitting on someone's desk for weeks.

i just. i just didn't know that this whole thing would become part of my identity.

that's the truth, isn't it? that the things we do for others have the ability to turn into a 'hat' we where? a role we play? an expectation others have. and ... get this ... part of our identity?

don't get me wrong, knowing i'm making a difference in the world around me makes a difference in mine, but on days like today, i 'just' want to be ...

paula.

2 comments:

  1. WOW!!! And your boss is willing to let you go???? Get a job across town and I bet all of the customers will follow you. haha.
    This is just so amazing!!!! This could become your career....or end up being a book. Collect everyone's stories and put them in a book...look out fame and fortune. You had a brilliant idea and it is making a difference in people's lives.

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  2. WOW Paula so proud of you! great job!

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