Jonny Latte

Making someone's coffee is not only a skillful act. It is not only a balancing act of temperatures, pressures, times and tastes. It is also an act of service, an act of friendship, an act of community. Jonny Latte is that community at Para, and he continually invites others to author that community for themselves, to own the space, to take pride in the craftsmanship of their drink, to share their opinion of the day, to quote their favorite movie. Jonny, and many of the other baristas at Para (and elsewhere) are bearers of a long tradition of promoting public engagement in dialogue and discussion, a tradition that has its roots in many cultures around the world.

Above is an image of men "Discussing the War in a Paris Cafe," a scene from the brief interim between the Battle of Sedan and the Siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian War (thanks, Wikipedia, for the image). We must ask ourselves, are we taking our lives, our freedoms, our beliefs, and our joys so seriously that we are sharing and debating them in our local coffee shop? If not, go see Jonny. He will initiate you into coffee culture and the long-standing history that accompanies it.