Conscious Cafe

It must have been just under a year ago when all the BMA touring groups met in Carnegie, PA, just out of Pittsburg, to help clean up one of the shops. They were still making repairs from the Hurricaine Ivan damage, which had blanketed the town in about five feet of water. The building was nothing when we were there last year. Completely bare and in need of serious repair.

Now a year later and we come back to find that this place is ________________ (gah! can't find a word to describe it!). It's a coffeeshop, wifi hotspot, used bookstore, town living room, and community service center all rolled into one perfectly aestetic building. I don't know what happened to it. I just know that it's perfect.



Run by Andy, a big friendly man with a big friendly beard, and his wife. Along with B (Beatrice, 25-ish and very warm) and Paul (the man is Bobby McFerrin incarnate, I'm telling you).

So, Conscious Cafe was built for adults and business meetings. The surprise was that it has become the town's teen hang-out spot. Once the cop came in the place, and he was utterly astounded, because he had arreseted half these kids before, and here they were learning to work together and watch eath others' backs. Learning to be true citizens.

I'd like to work at a place like that someday. Why not next year?