Smiling ladies

My coffee is made "with love" most mornings by the great ladies at Rituals in St. James. Many days, my mornings start with an array of ever cheerful women who usually provide excellent service, delicious food and always a cheery wish for a good day to me. I am regular at a few morning food establishments and I always feel special in that they remember the way I like whatever it I get from them.

Whether it is Charlotte and Sandra outside Brooklyn Bar who know I like my pair of doubles with slight and nothing else. That's right, you can keep the cucumber, shadon beni and all that gunk. Doubles are meant to be sloppy, channa filled, not too runny with a small smatter of pepper, enough that the flavour of the curry is not overwhelmed by burning. Then there's Tara and the girls at Sweetness with their crisp, ready fried bakes filled to the brim with tomato choka or smoked herring, they too know exactly how much pepper gets added. They lament that they've had to increase their prices but the conversation is still free. As previously mentioned, the stream of Rituals barristas including Carol, Yvette, Adanna et al. They always enquire after my health if I miss a few days. Ditto the ladies at Frankie's.

Occasionally I am lured by delights bought for me by my colleagues including a particularly interesting corned beef bake tantilisingly dropped on my desk by the Slacker on morning and never a repeat. He of the mile high bake and saltfish. Now reading this you might think all I do at my desk is eat. Quite the contrary, many times it is this morning push that takes me through the entire day. I constantly get lectured by well meaning friends and relatives about eating cereal at home and that kind of thing but I realised long ago that if I didn't have these morning ladies that I would be too removed from the real world. These ladies keep me real and I welcome the chance to start the day with a smile and a kind word.