Entertainment: sometimes it is critical for getting the job done. Let’s face it, not every part of the coffee business is enthralling, especially after thirty years. But we do pull out a little levity and fun when monotony threatens to overtake us. One of our favorite games is to have Jane be the DJ and have the rest of us guess either the name of the artist, or more interestingly, the theme of the selected songs. If you know Jane at all than you know the themes can get exceptionally obscure; musicians from Canada, One-Hit Wonders, names of artists with the initials S.J., or artists that died in plane crashes. She has an amazing brain that never stops challenging our collective minds.
Back when we were in our second location we were faced with roasting and packing a mountain of coffee for Stonewall Kitchen. The roasting inevitably would lag behind the packing so in the interim time Gussie would read to Jane. Often the books would be murder mysteries, but even murder mysteries would have a love interest involved. Despite Gussie’s gift for assuming a voice and spirit of the characters, she drew the line for hamming up love scenes and would rush through them in a monotonous way. It cracks them up even today to think of those long nights involved with roasting and reading. They often resort to reading out loud to help alleviate boredom.
On that trip to Chantilly, Virginia, Gussie read Tuesdays With Maury. That took a long time since it was a major tear-jerker and cut a little too close to the bone since Gussie’s father was battling cancer at the time and not doing very well. She would read until the lump in her throat would get too big and then slam the book closed announcing it was time to just talk or listen to the radio. Once she felt she had composed herself the reading would resume. Anyone who has read the book will know it’s not exactly War and Peace in length. The story wasn’t finished until days after the return to North Berwick while reading to Jane during cleaning duties.
Our favorite entertainment is doing crosswords. At lunch every day we all combine our life experiences and education to solve the puzzles. Carole, one of our favorite employees, gave us a subscription to monthly crosswords. We generally finish them up in a week before moving on to one of the many books of puzzles that we have. Not every person in the Carpe Diem crew has been excited about doing crosswords at lunch, but even they would get a palpable sense of pride when they would land on a correct answer to a stumper. We often can’t solve the whole thing, and Jane gives hints while checking the answers. Her clues will pull from a lifetime of paying attention to and remembering every minute detail. She can get us to the right answer with facial expressions, and accents, and history both personal and universal. Now THAT’S entertainment.
BLOG 14
Entertainment: sometimes it is critical for getting the job done. Let’s face it, not every part of the coffee business is enthralling, especially after thirty years. But we do pull out a little levity and fun when monotony threatens to overtake us. One of our favorite games is to have Jane be the DJ and have the rest of us guess either the name of the artist, or more interestingly, the theme of the selected songs. If you know Jane at all than you know the themes can get exceptionally obscure; musicians from Canada, One-Hit Wonders, names of artists with the initials S.J., or artists that died in plane crashes. She has an amazing brain that never stops challenging our collective minds.
Back when we were in our second location we were faced with roasting and packing a mountain of coffee for Stonewall Kitchen. The roasting inevitably would lag behind the packing so in the interim time Gussie would read to Jane. Often the books would be murder mysteries, but even murder mysteries would have a love interest involved. Despite Gussie’s gift for assuming a voice and spirit of the characters, she drew the line for hamming up love scenes and would rush through them in a monotonous way. It cracks them up even today to think of those long nights involved with roasting and reading. They often resort to reading out loud to help alleviate boredom.
On that trip to Chantilly, Virginia, Gussie read Tuesdays With Maury. That took a long time since it was a major tear-jerker and cut a little too close to the bone since Gussie’s father was battling cancer at the time and not doing very well. She would read until the lump in her throat would get too big and then slam the book closed announcing it was time to just talk or listen to the radio. Once she felt she had composed herself the reading would resume. Anyone who has read the book will know it’s not exactly War and Peace in length. The story wasn’t finished until days after the return to North Berwick while reading to Jane during cleaning duties.
Our favorite entertainment is doing crosswords. At lunch every day we all combine our life experiences and education to solve the puzzles. Carole, one of our favorite employees, gave us a subscription to monthly crosswords. We generally finish them up in a week before moving on to one of the many books of puzzles that we have. Not every person in the Carpe Diem crew has been excited about doing crosswords at lunch, but even they would get a palpable sense of pride when they would land on a correct answer to a stumper. We often can’t solve the whole thing, and Jane gives hints while checking the answers. Her clues will pull from a lifetime of paying attention to and remembering every minute detail. She can get us to the right answer with facial expressions, and accents, and history both personal and universal. Now THAT’S entertainment.