Kindness served hot.
I love Monday mornings. Always have. They’re my reset, my catch-up, my clean slate. The day I get my caffeine, my clarity, and my chaos lined up just right. And you get my memo. 🙃
And I usually start them in a café. It’s my ritual - laptop out, coffee in hand, world in motion. I normally end up at Raw Coffee in Al Quoz, but this morning I decided to switch things up and walk over to Lime Tree Café, right across from the gym.
I’m just getting back after a week of being down with the flu - better, but still not my full 100%. I walk in, place my order, and the guy behind the counter - Onara, from Gambia - looks at me and goes, “Do you have the flu?”
I laugh. “Can you hear it in my voice?”
He smiles, “No, I can see it on your face.”
We both crack up. A minute later, he brings my coffee — and a second cup. Warm water with lemon, ginger, and honey. On the house.
Said cups in question. And the kind hero in the back.
He didn’t have to do that. He didn’t ask. He didn’t even blink. Just noticed, and acted.
And that’s the thing - it’s such a small gesture, but it tells you everything about culture. The kind you can’t fake with a team-building exercise or an HR slide. It’s built quietly, cup by cup, person by person, until kindness becomes the default, not the exception.
It’s the same reason I’ve seen this café offer free water to delivery riders waiting in the heat, or a small juice to someone who clearly couldn’t afford one. Nobody’s watching. There’s no KPI for compassion. It’s just how they work.
“Real culture isn’t taught. It’s caught.”
And funny enough, it’s why I (and probably hundreds of others) keep going back. Because good energy feels good. But it’s also good business.
I think about this a lot - how we always end up going back to the places that feel good.
Not because the coffee’s the strongest or the playlist is cool, but because the people feel real. The warmth isn’t a customer service script; it’s genuine.
I once read this book, Humankind, that argues most people are actually good - we just get distracted by the few who aren’t. Maybe that’s what makes mornings like this stand out. When someone like Onara notices, helps, and doesn’t make a big deal out of it - it reminds you that decency is still alive and well.
And that’s what good business really is. Not algorithms or loyalty points or the perfect flat white. It’s a feeling you can’t fake - when people walk out lighter than they walked in.
So here’s your reminder this Monday morning:
Build teams that don’t need permission to be kind.
Encourage gestures that don’t ask, “How do I log this?”
And be the person who notices, even when no one else is looking.
It’s not softness. It’s strength.
And if you’re lucky, it comes with coffee and a lot of heart.
M.
xx
Manuja
Not for everyone. Never was.
