Higher Grounds
Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2003, 4:08 p.m.

When I still lived in Colorado, there was this Christian coffee shop I used to go to. It became my "research" area when, in my junior year, I started writing a paper about, supposedly, my beliefs, but actually it was about why I disbelieved and/or was disenchanted with Christianity. I still have that piece of drivel somewhere. I got an A on it, but it was a lousy and (to use one of Mephit's favorite words) pretentious 4 pages of crap.

Ummm... but that's not what I wanted to talk about. I wanted to talk about Higher Grounds. (Hah! Hah! Get it? Ok, so I enjoy lousy puns...) Anyway, the cool thing about this place is that you'd see people there that you'd never expect to talk to each other in a high school situation, sitting side by side and talking intently. For instance, you'd see a goth girl (with spike-studded choker, black lipstick, the works) right next to a jock (with the football jacket, honors pins and all) making out. (Oh, wait, that was my ex-boyfriend cheating on me... "But, honey, this isn't a hickey! No, it's a bite mark! I just couldn't stop her! She lunged after me! She's going to be a vampire!" This last was added admiringly. Needless to say, the relationship didn't last much longer than that statement.) But seriously, it was this common ground for everyone. And the conversations that went on there! Seriously amazing, in-depth, thought-provoking, philosophical, incredible discussions. Sometimes I miss that place. A lot. The soft lighting, the smoky atmosphere (even though there wasn't actually any smoke there... it's just one of those things you have to experience to understand), the camaraderie, the simple acceptance, and the fact that these people actually thought! The funny thing is, I didn't even know it was a Christian coffee shop until I'd been going there for something like six months. And that's when I started getting into the really interesting conversations!

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