Awaken Cafe

It’s a grey Monday in sky and head, and my mind is mumbly-laughing over the “Somebody’s got a case of the Mondays” line from Office Space. I step into Awaken Café as Beck sings, “…guess I’m doin’ fine.”

From there, it only gets better. The anonymous hums of downtown Oakland dissolve the sky and street behind me like dust… Baristas and customers alike say, “Hey, good morning!” and I’m pretty sure they mean it. There is this immediate sense of community that actually throws me off a little it was so palpable. A steady stream of locals and regulars stop in on their way to work, and I hear both sides of the counter using first names. A few folks ask about their hours, getting a feel for the place. I read the sign next door about how I can become a “member.” It’s only a few months old but feels like a part of Oakland, like people who stop through had been waiting for it to show up for a long time. And the people who stopped through are pure Oakland – blue collars and business casual, burners off the playa and hipsters. We all miss our bed on the way to work, but I felt like Awaken let me trade my sheets for a blanket of smiling banter and warm feelings on my grind toward the grind. What else?: my cup is 100% compostable: “Paper with BioPlastic Lining.” They had the paper waiting; Local art on the walls; Free internet; Good coffee; And bumper stickers. It felt like stopping by my friend’s living room to get my morning fluid, that is, if my friend had a great selection of teas, espressos, and pastries (even Vegan doughnuts! In downtown Oakland!). Oh, and did I mention that it’s a quick walk from the 12th St/ City Center BART stop in Oakland? It was great to have Beck on the soundtrack, but he was wrong: I was doin’ great, not fine. I can’t think of a better way to Awaken.

I was in such a rush to put all of this down that I skipped the headlines. A testament to the fact that a friendly hand to hold your caffeine in the morning goes a long way. The headlines present their standard split: The top half spotlights Silicon Valley volunteers in Kenya and Obama tells us that “I am my brother’s keeper,” but when I flip to the bottom I find Spanish news anchors with unfair pay and the Beijing Olympics steals water from local farmers. Today they feel distant in the flow of people.

Go. Awaken. Check them out at 414 Fourth Street (just East of Broadway) and at www.awakencafe.com. But enjoy your break slow, dear reader, and appreciate the smiles when they come. If the front page tells our stories, hopefully we can Awaken from unfair pay and government theft to the spirit of “La Raza,” and, like today’s coffee spot, act like the keepers of sisters and brothers that we are.

Breakfast in the Bay: Making sense of waking up since Tuesday, 2008.