Café Sopeso, one ingenious kind of gratitude

Eva Mediavilla. Fotografía Javier Hornillos / EPE 2013. Acta Diurna

Don’t be surprised if, one day while you’re having breakfast in the bar down your street you come across someone who pays for three coffees and then leaves having just had one. And don’t be surprised if after a while, the man who sings in the corner for a couple of coins comes in and drinks one of these already-paid-for coffees.Born in Naples, the ‘sospeso     coffee iniciative’, also known as coffee in suspension is a charity campaign to help resourceless people enjoy little meaningless pleasures such as having a warm drink before starting a hard day.

It’s very simple: you can walk into any of the bars that support the idea and pay for drinks –such as coffee- or even food, leaving them ‘in suspension’ so, afterwards, someone can have them. The idea has spread all over the world, and the offered products are more and more each time: Russia has thought of doing this in the education area, to help kids with little economic support and aiding them to buy books.  Still not used in Spain but arriving with a great impact, maybe in a while this will be as simple of a habit as having breakfast every morning.