Thursday, August 19, 2010

Guest Blog #9 -- The BIGGBY Way :) & CHEERS :)

I Love "guest bloggers" they say it better than I could, ya'know? Referencing CHEERS (the TV show) happens frequently ...It always puts a warm smile on my face :)

It's morning; I walk down a hallway at the McKay Tower in Grand Rapids toward some necessary chocolate, caffeinated goodness.

One head, two heads, look up and around: "Kimmie!" "How are you?" "Hey girl!"

"Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name .... and they're always glad you came ... "
That's Riley and JoAnn, my baristas from the Monroe Center Biggby. They are ALWAYS glad, ALWAYS smiling, cracking jokes, and have, in the past months, years, become that constant "up" in my daily grind that keeps me from physically harming most people.

Just kidding. Kinda. Sorta. I've never been a big "all people are good deep down" person; I tend to think digging deep enough in some people in order to find that good would require a sharp drill and comfort level with blood that I do not possess. But I digress.

JoAnn has red hair and a wit and instinct about people that at times will broadcast itself in a lopsided grin in my direction that relays, "You caught that, too, right?" Riley is a dark-haired sprite, always ready with a smile and a chocolate sauce design on my lattecino that eerily mirrors my mood on a particular day. And Riley has been there ever since I first traipsed into Biggby clueless as to what kind of coffee drink I wanted ... or the path of uber-Biggby addiction on which I tread. These are my people. And the best days at the Monroe Center Biggby are when I walk in and spy both of them behind the counter.

"Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got; taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot."

Even better are some of the lyrics that never made it on air during the show (same tune remember): "Roll out of bed, Mr. Coffee's dead; the morning's looking bright; And your shrink ran off to Europe, and didn't even write; And your husband wants to be a girl ..." (wow, it's as if I WROTE that song) ... "Be glad there's one place in the world where everybody knows your name ... "

My Biggby baristas, Riley and JoAnn, offer me that break, that place, without the job endangering addition of alcohol that accompanied Cheers. They are truly a team, both spectacular, each unique yet complimenting the other, and that is why they should be recognized as a team by Biggby as my favorite baristas.

I'll just let them decide which is Sam and which is Woody.

Kimmie aka "NORM!"


~Kimberly

Justacogitatiing Blog

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, I follower her on twitter. Cool post. Love Biggby!

Anonymous said...

BIGGBY is just like Cheers! Great analogy and thanks for telling us your story, it was perfect!

halfbakedmusings said...

"I tend to think digging deep enough in some people in order to find that good would require a sharp drill and comfort level with blood that I do not possess."

Well said Kimmie. You can write under the Halfbakedmusings banner anytime! Your my kind of woman. Just kidding. kinda. Sorta.

JD said...

As it happens, I remember Riley very clearly from doing the staff training at the downtown BIGGBY...and if I remember you, amongst all of the trainees that came before you, or after you, that's either a really good thing, or a really bad thing.

...

It's a good thing. Glad to hear that she's still out there having fun and making people like Kimberly happy.

Thanks for sharing that, Kimmie!

Anonymous said...

Excellent blogger. Seriously, she must write for a living. They could use her at the Lansing State Journal!!

Justacogitating said...

I'm cracking up as I try to determine whether that last comment was sarcastic or not. Tone is so seriously underrated. ;)

Thanks for all your comments!!