This is the usual business trip. Plane, cab, hotel, restaurant, hotel room, keynote, meeting, speech, meeting, networking, lunch, etc. ad nauseum. But I always try to fit something in to learn a bit about the community. I went for a nice but cold walk this morning to a local coffee shop, the Wired Puppy. On Newberry street (the local gentrified shopping street filled with high end chain stores), I was worried that it would be yet another generic cafe. Wrong. I walk in to a basement shop filled with organic scones fresh out of the oven, delightful coffee, and dogs. Yes, the name of the cafe does suggest that it might cater to the four legged friends, but I didn’t see it coming. Everybody knew the dogs. And even though the original Cheers bar was right down the street, I’m not going to reference the theme song….

There was also a woman with a little girl, probably around 2 or 3 years old. It was cute watching them interact with the dogs, especially the chihuahua with the Red Sox jersey on. Turns out that she was watching a friend’s kid while they were on an anniversary trip. What a great friend!

I love little slices of neighborhood life like this. Makes me believe that the world is a better place. And makes me miss my family.