Steamer for the Heart

Every once in awhile I like to pull out a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul, have a good read and remind myself that even when I think life is being on the unfair side, ultimately I am a romantic, and an optimist and the good guys always wear the white hats…and they always win.

I have been trying to make it a point to find heart warming stories and post them here, because caffeine twitch or not, coffee drinkers are some of the truly nicest people in the world.  And I think you all want to walk around with that little lump in your throat, and goofy smile…just like me.

So, I decided to make it regular, or as regular as I can…and here is today’s Steamer for the Heart.

Coffee is not a real popular drink in India but companies are trying to make the shift.   The Costa Coffee outlet in New Delhi is one such company, struggling to entice the population of New Delhi to catch the caffeine wave.

Enter the shop and enjoy the quiet, and the calm and unruffled smiles of the young baristas.   Their smiles don’t fade, and the politeness doesn’t change.

The employees cannot hear or speak.  They rely on menus, lip reading, and notepads to  take orders and run the unusual cafe.

The company wanted to hire people who would be motivated and enthusiastic and they found that in these  employees.  The customers love the baristas to the point that many of them are trying to learn sign.  The baristas themselves said that working helps them to feel part of life, less separate, less different.

The story is very long but you can read it here

One of my children was born with only one ear. It is called Mycrotia.  It is amazing how difficult life is when you can hear from only one ear, you don’t appreciate the differences until you deal with a brilliant child that was too ashamed to tell a Royal Rangers (like Boy Scouts) leader that he could not sift through sounds from the back of the room, and so sat and wept quietly as he failed a test.  The leader did not realize he was hearing impaired , and once he did all was well.  Maybe I take a special liking to this story because of that, I don’t know, but I do know that as we see, and experience, people’s differences as being differences rather than be uncomfortable around them we communicate better and become happier.  In this case, customers are bonding with the employees in an unusual way.

So…loads of Kudos to this company..and I hope that it warmed your heart as much as mine.