wandering around Washington, D.C, met up with the former employer’s DC delegation.
sought out nearby coffee at a freshly erected coffee house that refuses to serve espresso to go.
promising.
sitting and talking, learning that espresso is considered a staple in italy and its price is regulated, i find myself at the intersection of two latent guild networks
baristas.
and
spotters.
the former – james introduces us to his barista. it’s his day off, but he just can’t escape the embassy. apparently they throw down locally once a month, first thursday. it’s purely an art competition — latte art. seattle told me it was started there, but i didn’t know about the throw downs.
but this pales in comparison to the world barista competitions – espresso, cappuccino, and a signature drink. local, regional, nationals, international.
of course this all makes sense and isn’t surprising in the least, but he and his lady friend were on their way – on their day off – to watch videos of people competing. guild passion everted. there’s a different kind of structure in play.
—
the latter – another barista walks in, wearing a shirt bright purple with pink lettering, and i immediately recognize it. they don’t sell this stuff in stores, you can only get them a few times a year if you know where to look. and all i’ll say is that you have to know what you’re looking for to recognize it like i did.
so i approach the counter, there’s a 50/50 chance that i can take without revealing too much.
“i have a weird question for you”
guy looks at me, sizing me up. “shoot.”
“are you a dirt?”
“excuse me?”
“a dirt. do you know what i mean?”
“ummm…” the guy shifts uncomfortably.
“sorry. nevermind. i just saw your shirt…”
“OH! YES! Sorry, I’m not up on all the lingo yet… I’ve never met anyone who knew what this was…”
“you must be new — welcome. i’m known as __________. Yeah, it doesn’t happen often, but it’s nice to know it does, right?”
“Yeah!! Dude, what’s your real name??”
True story, from just a couple hours ago. Made myself a new friend named Aaron. Well, that’s not his real name, but you know. That’s what you’d call him if you met him.
And then catching up on my streams, I see that Foreign Policy has a bit on the world’s future in cities, Beyond City Limits
And I think to myself… they’re already five minutes in the past, five minute too late. But the article’s worth reading, if only for the photo essay with all the world’s cities.