Small gestures

Pinkerton and I see a lot of Starbucks.

It’s a reliable place for a cup of caffeination and a portable breakfast, and if there’s one close by wherever I’m staying (and there always is) we’ll be there every morning, pre-rehearsal.

The Starbucks we frequent the most is one attached to a hotel in downtown Minneapolis, where I conduct monthly. Your typical hotel Starbucks is usually a scene – long lines of customers with their complicated custom orders (“sugar-free no-whip half-caff mocha with soy milk”) and harried baristas with barely a moment to look up from the register.

This one is different. A few years ago, a new barista started working there, a young Somali woman named Naima. When she handed me back my credit card with the receipt to sign, she looked me in the eye and thanked me by name. Clearly she’d read my name off of my card, but I appreciated the effort.

After a year of spending 4-5 days a month in Minneapolis and many cups of dark roast later, Naima would greet me by name when I walked in the door. In fact, she seemed to know the names of all of the regular customers. Early this year she’d memorized my usual order and would start prepping the instant oatmeal the minute I walked in the door.

The other baristas, I noticed, began to greet regulars. And at this point some of them know my customary order as well, and will get it started with a knowing grin even before I reach the counter. There’s a sense of camaraderie there, of community.

As a musician my primary objective is to be able to create a moment of connection with my audiences. I’d like to think that in my own way, I can create a positive energy that can affect those who hear my concerts, who in turn would take that momentum with them into their own families and neighborhoods. And Naima reminded me of this ripple effect, the impact that one person can have, of the accumulations of the smallest kind gestures.

It doesn’t take much to create a moment of connection and community, something I feel is sorely needed these days. What will you do today?