At My Fingertips

Raise your hand if you can remember being asked this question when you were in elementary school:

What do you want to be when you grow up?

The typical answers are, teacher, doctor, lawyer, astronaut, along with a host of others.

My answer as a child wasn't much different. I wanted to be a teacher. But who I wanted to teach was a bit more unique.

I wanted to teach "the blind." For some odd reason I was fascinated by Louis Braille. I even learned how to read Braille, and wrote to the Braille Institute several times. I would hand-write my letters and they would respond in Braille. It was so cool! I wish I still had them.

Unfortunately, my dreams took a different path as I got older and I never became the teacher that I had always longed to be. With the teaching dream went my ability to read Braille.

Then, a few weeks ago I was in my local Starbucks and saw that they had gift cards in Braille. I just HAD to get one. I didn't put any money on it...didn't even buy it with the intention of giving it away. I just asked the cashier if I could have one and off I went. Funny how something as simple as this little card brought back such a flood of memories, along with "what ifs."

What if I had stuck with my interest in Braille and had actually become the teacher that I'd dreamt of being as a young girl? How much different would my life have been?

Interestingly enough, for those who know me well and/or have followed The Dialogue Den since 2009, you know that I have "special eyes," and the ability to SEE each day is truly a GIFT that I never take for granted. I have to take special precautions with MY eyes that most folks don't give any thought to. Not many folks my age have ever seen a RETINA SPECIALIST. I have...more times than I care to admit.

I pray that these eyes will always be able to SEE what is before them, but just in case anything ever changes...thanks to Mr. Braille, I know that I will ALWAYS be able to READ.

Oh, and in case you were wondering...the letters on the card (of course) spell Starbucks. That first little dot by itself, way over to the left lets you know that the word is capitalized.

How 'bout you?

Let the DIALOGUE begin: What was YOUR answer to the 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' question when you were in elementary school? Did your dream/goal come true?

Talk to me!

Til next time...

Coffee, Tea, and...

So it's been a little over a month since my trip to New Orleans. Man, I can hardly wait to go back!

I still have LOTS to write about my time there and tonight I'm going to take a little time to do just that.

***

Saturday night I hung out at my favorite Starbucks in L.A.

It's the one where I met "Joe" thirteen years ago, and every now and then I go because it simply brings back so many special memories. I also love the vibe. Good music playing and intellectual Black folks fill up the place. There aren't too many Starbucks that I've been to that have those elements. For this reason, I drive 14 miles just to be in that environment. Love it!

Although I'm not much of a coffee drinker (except for one cup a day at work), I do drink a lot of tea. That's what I typically get at Starbucks.

While I was in New Orleans, I got very acquainted with the nearby Starbucks on Canal and Royal. Not so much because of the coffee or tea, but because of the clean public restroom and outlets for me to charge my phone.

One day while charging my phone and sipping on the boxed apple juice that I'd purchased, I sat back and enjoyed the music being piped through the speakers. It didn't take long for me to realize that this particular Starbucks had vibe of its own, not exactly like my favorite one here in L.A., but one that made me wanna hang out for a bit.

So as I sat there chillin', I heard the live version of Erykah Badu's "Tyrone" come on. Now I've heard the song a number of times, so I am very aware of the fact that at the very beginning she comes right out and says, "I'm gettin' tired of your shyt..."

The song is blaring, and she's about to start singing. I'm wondering if they're gonna bleep the word out. Well, as I continued to listen I quickly learned that the song would be played IN ITS ENTIRETY...profanity and all. I wasn't bothered by it, and simply thought, "Well alrighty then. That's the way things are done here."

I sat and enjoyed the song...listened to it come to an end, and do you know...they played that song AGAIN!!! Back to back!

At that point I was convinced...this wasn't Kansas, and this IS how things are done in New Orleans. Cool!

Suffice it to say...I now have a second favorite Starbucks.

Now, Let the DIALOGUE begin: Are you a regular Starbucks goer? If so, do you have a favorite. If so, which one?

Talk to me!

Til next time...

Here's the song. If profanity offends you, I thank you for reading today's post and you may want to stop here.