Text: Ida Frisch
Without the people who live in a city, cities are just a collection of buildings and roads. And without places to gather for us people who live in a city, cities would just be lonely people, buildings, and roads.
Thanks to all the quirky concepts.
Thanks to all the entrepreneurs who have gathered their friends, painted an empty space, filled it with chairs, tables, a counter, and an old coffee machine, worked for free for six months, and hung a slightly crooked sign above the door - welcome in.
Thanks for all the hours spent on Finn.no hunting down popcorn machines, carpets, and shelves for the small business you dared to start.
Thanks to the coffee nerds and for that journey you took in early 2000 to the coffee producer in Guatemala that you just HAD to import to Norway.
Thanks to those who specialize in everything that can be called locally sourced, thanks for the extra effort you put in.
Thanks for extended opening hours.
Thanks for being open on Christmas Eve, at least until 1 pm, for those who dread the family dinner later.
Thanks to those who let the two love-struck teenagers buy one black coffee to share and sit there for five hours.
Thanks to those who sell discounted pastries at the end of the workday, thanks to those who write down the temperature in the refrigerator on a small list in the back room every afternoon, just in case the food authorities come.
Thanks for enduring exhausted parents, thanks for serving coffee even to those who forget their money, they usually come back to pay.
Thanks for taking the trouble to get to know the regulars.
Thanks for learning names.
Thanks for hiring the neighbor's daughter who took a gap year and doesn't quite know what she wants to do next, and thanks for buying chalk and letting the kids draw on the pavement outside.
Thanks for quizzes.
Thanks for mopping the floor and stacking the chairs on the tables when the guests have gone home, thanks for the alarm clocks that ring at 5:30 am for the morning shifts.
Thanks for the smell of coffee in the street, thanks for not giving up during the pandemic. Thanks for the shift schedules, thanks for the daily managers, thanks for the note that says "remember to order milk tomorrow", thanks for bothering.
We love you.
We, who need to sit alone for a while.
We who have something to think about.
We who are going to meet someone we're not quite sure what looks like, we who are going to finish writing a bachelor's thesis, we who are going to read a book, we who are going to send a breakup-text, we who are going to file our tax returns.
We love you, we freelancers who can't afford an office, we who want to change jobs and need to surf around for a new future, we who have a secret crush on the person who works on Wednesdays.
We love you, we who have argued with those at home, we who don't want to go home just yet.
Thanks for existing, all the city's quirky, lovely cafés.
Thanks for turning the city into a living room, a place to live, and a home.
Thanks for the coffee ☕️
