Bicycles and coffee.

Two things I hold dear.

It happens that there is a coffee shop in Oakland that is dedicated to these two things.

Bicycle Coffee.

They deliver coffee to their shops and retailers on bicycles.

It helps their coffee is delicious.

It’s the closest I’ve found to the best coffee I’ve had, which is Wackers Kaffee in Frankfurt. I wrote about them a few weeks ago.

Bicycle Coffee is becoming more popular in Oakland, with a new location in the base of the building I used to work in.

They hit a specific audience. People who love coffee and bicycles.

Getting specific and focusing on your niche. This is great marketing out in the wild.

They got me. Two things I love combined into one.

Coffee and bicycles.

It feels like it was made for me.

I guess that’s the point of great marketing.

The 41^st street block party is a street festival in Oakland.

Music, food, art.

For the music, Green Day played a free show for the Oakland community.

Then, for New Year’s Eve, Billie Joe Armstrong and his band The Longshot played a surprise show at the Golden Bull.

A small club in Oakland.

Since they released a new album and were planning a tour – which is now on hold due to COVID – Green Day (prior to COVID) seemed to be warming up for tour by playing small shows in the Oakland community.

If you’re lucky enough to hear about them before they happen (I’m not), it’s a unique experience.

This is community engagement. And Green Day seems to take it seriously.

Not forgetting the community that made them what they are.

How do you engage with your community?

Mett.

It is raw pork spread on an open-faced bread roll – called a brötchen – with raw onions sprinkled on top.

It looks like uncooked ground beef.

In Germany, if you walk into a butcher, or some bakeries, you’ll find this. It’s fairly common. I have friends who eat it for breakfast.

As an American, this is appalling. Pork is the one thing you do not eat raw. Ever. It isn’t even debatable.

If you eat raw pork, you’ll get sick. Maybe even die. That’s how severe this is. Even pork that is undercooked is bad. You can get sick from that too.

But here are the German’s, enjoying raw pork regularly.

Now, I’m not entirely sure why German pork can be eaten raw and American pork cannot. I can only guess it is a distinction like you have in Sushi. Like, “Sushi grade fish”.

Maybe they have “Mett grade pork”?

Though, that’s not what I am here to discuss.

What I am here to discuss is, from time to time, it’s probably healthy to challenge your beliefs. Particularly the strong ones. And, why you feel so strongly about them.

Pork can in fact be eaten raw. I have done it. I did not get sick. My German friends have not gotten sick.

Once I got over my strong belief, it isn’t bad. Not my first choice of food, but had I grown up with it as a staple in my diet, I would probably think differently.

The next time you’re in Germany, give some raw pork a try.

Just ask for Mett.