And On The Seventh Day

Sunday.

The very word conjures up a relaxing day off from work. A weekend morning when one could be awaken at 8am, but laze about in bed until 10am. This heavenly comfort followed by breakfast consisting of waffles with syrup (can I get a yes, ma’am!), blueberry yoghurt and sliced bananas. And to get to spend the morning with someone that you share lopsided smiles with, well, there really isn’t anything better.

The rest of the day came in a close second.

My friends Anna and Jesse are back in town for a quick visit, so Peggy and I met up with them.

Guess what Qoola did yesterday for Earth Hour? They were the ONLY (seriously?!?) retail storefront on the long stretch of Denman Street that turned off their lights, put out candles on all the tables and gave one free topping with order to all patrons that were there between 830pm – 930pm. Quite the shining light in the darkness.

Their mission at being ecologically and socially responsible is not lip service and continues to be an inspiration for me to live life conscientiously. It seems I’m not the only one affected. Their Earth Hour observation was noticed by passerbys; many who wanted to come in and shake the owners’ hand in doing their part for the environment.

The sun was out and there was a loads to catch up on, so Anna, Peggy and I walked around downtown and then down to the beach.

Heading back to Qoola, we waited for Jesse, Warwick and Aaron to go for dinner at the Japanese cafe called Barefoot Kitchen. The guys who’ve been friends for years are all successful in their careers and now have taken on opening a business together; a business where they’ve toiled doing all the grunt work themselves, all the guerilla/viral marketing, and on top of all that, personally servicing the customers in a manner that will no doubt have them back as repeat customers, if not as friends.

Typically, a new business will take 3-5 years before possibly breaking even. Then if the business is still standing, it may start to turn a profit. Snd for that reason, I admire my friends in following their dreams.

At times like Sisyphus rolling the boulder up a hill, it will not be easy. And surely, the monetary reward will not be there at the beginning and yet, even knowing this, they’re committed to making Qoola work.

But more importantly as they bring their dreams into fruition, they’re doing it in a way to educate people about being mindful of our collective actions and the resulting environmental impact we’re leaving in our wake. We need more businesses like this and more management like them.

If I wasn’t their friend already, I would make it my mission to become one.