“The usual?”

That’s the question that was posed to me this morning. Now, it was just at the local Quik Trip store that’s on the way to work, but still, it made me think a bit.

The details of me having a “usual” are unremarkable. I am in the habit of stopping at that QT every morning on the way to work sometime between 6:30 and 7:00 AM. I have an older 52 oz mug that I fill with Diet Pepsi from the fountain. I usually add a shot of cherry syrup to sweeten it a bit. They upped the price on me several months ago; it now costs $0.93 once the state of Iowa taxes it.

So this morning I didn’t have to say “refill” or “yeah, it’s pop” (apparently some folks refill a 52 oz mug with coffee! Yikes!) - as I walked up to the counter, the guy said “just the usual?” and I said “yep” and handed him a dollar. Actually, I set the dollar on the counter; he was already pulling my seven cents of change out of the cash drawer.

There’s a word I’m heading towards here with this story, and that word is community. Now sure, maybe it’s a stretch to say that the Quik Trip guy knowing what I usually get is community. (Maybe it’d be better for me if I wasn’t drinking 50 oz of Diet Pepsi a day!) But when you start having consistency in an area to the point where you and your habits are known, and people start responding to you as a person they recognize, rather than just some random human they have to deal with today? That’s the start of an opportunity for a relationship; one that builds community and provides opportunities to interact about more meaningful things.

My hope is two-fold. First, that I will be a part of a community long enough that people will know me and what I am about. Second, that what I am about will be more meaningful than large daily doses of liquefied caffeine.