I had a surprising experience the other
day.
Before you read about that, though, you
should know this.
In most of the places I go, I tend to
be surrounded by people like me – people who are either urban
professionals or suburban-family-types (I may or may not qualify for
either, but I could pass as both) – at any rate, the defining
characteristic might be middle-class and middle-American (whatever
that really means). By and large we speak with the same accent, we are familiar with the same cultural references, and we can come to
understand the other's perspective even if we have different
political views.
So when I go to a coffee shop,
particularly the ubiquitous green one with the trademark goddess on
the awning, I expect a certain atmosphere. I expect that people will
be typing on laptop computers (much as I am as I write this). If
people are talking to one another, I expect volumes and tones hushed
to such a level that I could only eavesdrop on the table immediately
adjacent to me, or that I could dismiss as white noise. I expect
most people to not make eye contact, and for the baristas to only be
friendly enough to get my drink order right.
Then, the other day when I went into a
coffee shop I hadn't been to before, I was surprised by a little bit
of culture shock … which was really pleasant.
To a person, the staff seemed genuinely
joyful. I first noticed this when I ordered.
But then I watched as
I sat there, and they had the same attitude with each customer, and
with each other when there was no one ordering.
The mix of people who came in for coffee was
almost as diverse as you'll see in the Denver metro area. In the
space of about 15 minutes, I heard Spanish and French and Arabic. I
heard (what I believe is) Urdu and I heard heavily-accented English. I saw about eight different varieties of skin tone. And the buzz of conversation was much more lively (and felt more fully alive) than what I'm accustomed to.
It was truly a joyful coffee experience for me.
It seems to be the case that if there's
one person in a groups who's different, our tendency is to focus on
that difference. And if there is a great deal of diversity in a
group, we tend to look for and discover what we have in common.
I like the second option better.
I wonder how our outlook on the world
would change is we more frequently and more intentionally surrounded
ourselves with people who are different from us.
$0.02