12/05/2026
I have been the ‘coffee shop girl’ for the majority of my life. I have interacted with countless customers in the last 25 years! But there is one man that stands out in my mind, because he taught me that what we do is important, and why catering establishments are important.
Let me take you back to Newcastle - under - Lyme, 2006, to a little café I was working in called Bellini’s. I want to tell you about a customer we knew as Cappuccino Man (he came in every day for a cappuccino, but you probably guessed that). He was an elderly gentleman of relatively few words, and didn't really chat very much, well not as much as most people from the Potteries (I am allowed to say this).
Until one day, he started to talk to me. He started to tell me about his wife, this amazing woman who he had been in love with since his school days. How she had been a real go-getter and had worked her way up in her industry and they had eventually moved to London with her job, but they had retired back to the area. The pride he felt for this woman, lit up his whole face. They hadn’t managed to have children, and this had been their one sadness in their otherwise happy lives. He then went on to tell me that this would be his first Christmas without her and that she had passed away earlier in the year.
This was the moment I knew that what we do is important. I knew this was the first time this gentleman had opened up about this great sadness in his life. And I knew it was my job to hold it and listen to him talk. I learnt that is important to be that ear and to hold space for these stories to be told out loud. And I have been told many stories, happy & sad. I have had to go into the toilets and have a good cry at times.
Why am I writing this, well because the catering industry is in trouble, and places are closing down. But coffee shops, pubs, cafés are not just about money, they are about people. They are third spaces (social environments outside of home and work that foster community & connection), places where people go to interact and sometimes those interactions are so important that they stay with you for life.
Jo
Team WK
Dedicated to Cappuccino Man!☕
