Friday 28 November 2014

Suspended Coffee ~ cup of human kindness

It's #BlackFriday if you hadn't notice by the ten squillion emails about said subject in your email inbox , sell, sell, need need . The world has gone  bonkers , deals to be had , thought you didn't need it well you do now ! Like the sofa adverts of this world , surely everyone has a sofa by now ? Consumerism can eat at out soul , a black most descends and very often we are convinced that you need the item wether we really do or not.

I crave adventure , I crave familiarity   I don't however crave the contempt of some of the human condition , never overly opinionated am I . Now that's not to say I didn't partake of some Black Friday deals but sensible buying was my mantra.

Human kindness for me this week was a suspended coffee, not a coffee that is somehow suspended but a charitable act. I went to my regular haunt when in town , my regular haunt is the cathedral tea rooms where often I'm the youngest by decades , none of this matters.

I ordered a jacket potato and a cup of tea , the jacket was my first meal in a week through illness , I felt rough as houses but my illness is nothing comforted to the suffering of some. I bet you are wondering still want a suspended coffee is ?

There was a shabbily dressed man sitting at one of the tables , doing no one  any harm , before I realised what I was doing I hid my phone . Moe shame me ! How dare I presume ! The waitress came over to him and asked 

" Would you like another suspended coffee?"

The chap shook his head and just quietly sat.

I was gripped.

Finishing up, I went to the till and brought my son a flapjack to take home and asked

" What is a suspended coffee please ?"

The young waitress answered me 


 "When people come in for a coffee for themselves, they also pay for one or more for someone who can't afford one. Perhaps they're living rough or on the streets, or just very poor. There are more and more these days with the cuts. Someone in that situation is welcome to come in and ask if there are any suspended coffees available, and if there are, they can have one"

The price of the suspended coffee was £1

I brought one.

That was a lesson I was happy to learn.

Of course they can have tea if they don't like coffee .



14 comments:

  1. Suspended coffees are a great Random Act of Kindness, and so easy. On behalf of whoever received your coffee (or tea), thank you!

    I received a Random Act of Kindness recently too. We used the M6 Toll road for the first time ever, as it's not usually all that convenient, but it was that day. We pullled up to the toll booth, and the guy in the booth told us that someone in front (there was no-one visible, so no idea who) had paid a few extra tolls, so our journey was free. What a generous thing to do.

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    1. How kind ! I love the idea of pay it forward x

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  2. such a great idea, there's a cafe here that does it, always buy one or two when we go in for a drink x

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  3. I love this - I read about it happening in America and am so glad that this is happening over here now :) This has really cheered me up :) Hope it spreads throughout the uk now! xxx

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  4. I just LOVE that, what a lovely and simple idea, wonder if any of my locals do it? x

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  5. This is such a brilliant idea - it should be better publicised though as I would love to contribute if I knew a cafe was doing it... Love these random anonymous acts of kindness.

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  6. This is such a brilliant idea, so simple yet just so so lovely x

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  7. I love the idea of a suspended coffee, our local Starbucks do this and I've contributed.

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  8. I think the idea of suspended coffees is great, I keep meaning to find out if any of our local coffee shops do this as I would be happy to buy one when I can. x

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  9. What a lovely idea. I like to support buskers in our little town, many are young students, singing their hearts out to make ends meet. A pound or two is nothing to many people. I also buy the Big Issue on occasion, and give a bit extra.

    I love that someone paid for your toll too. I think I will certainly take time and do a random act of kindness on a more regular basis

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  10. I've never heard of this before. What a wonderful idea. I'll have to find out if any the cafes in the city do it as it hasn't spread out to the suburbs.

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  11. What a lovely idea Claire - I wonder if anywhere near me does this x

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  12. I love this idea. Nice to see compassion for a change.

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  13. I just read an article on this in the paper - such a fab idea

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