This afternoon I took Petra to lunch in town. We went to the new Espresso House that just opened in Skellefteå, and the first thing I thought was that Wayne’s Coffee is really going to have to step up their game in order not to find themselves in a bad way. For a good many years, they’ve been the only chain-type coffee place in town, and they haven’t really had to deal with any big competitors. Looks like that’s a thing of a the past, especially considering that Espresso House’s coffee and fika are far superior, in my opinion.

Also a thing of the past was one of the young baristas behind the counter. I initially thought that I recognized her from someplace in Skellefteå, and my mind immediately went to Wayne’s, thinking she was an early defector. After a couple of moments, though, I realized that I knew her from the Espresso House in Uppsala, where I often get coffee when I’m there. I asked, just to make sure, and it turned out that she recognized me as well. We chatted for a few minutes while I waited for my iced latte, and apparently she’s working in Stockholm now, and was up this way for just a few days to help out in the new place. While it’s not common, it’s not entirely unusual that I see people down in Stockholm that I know from up here, but it’s never happened before that I’ve run into somebody here that I know from somewhere else.