Wichita, we have a problem. Fortunately, I have a solution
"Come hither," beckons that steam. Image found here.
(Updated below the fold with musical proof of what I speak.)
From Yahoo!.com, via A California Girl in Kansas (thanks, Bobby--about whom, by the way, you local folks need to know, if you don't already) comes a list of the 10-Best and -Worst U.S. Cities for Dating. The best? Austin (duh!). Second-worst? The Peerless Princess of the Prairie, and here's why, in part:Latte, Anyone?: Wichita (overall No. 79) and Greensboro (overall No. 75) are among those cities that are home to the least number of coffee shops per capita, leaving few good places for young people to converge and trade stories after a fun night out.
Now: It's true that Wichita tends to rank high on lists of best cities to raise a family and livability in general, but I would hope there's no correlation between our dearth of coffeeshops and our overall pleasantness as a place to live. That would be not only Just. Weird., but more than a little sad, good coffee, like beer, being proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.
Hey . . . hmmm. God? Coffee? Happiness? The possibility of finding one's future mate?
Paging Ariel . . .
My long-time bloggy friend Ariel is not only a devoted man of God, he also has a serious coffee jones--in his current post, in fact, he laments the fact that he doesn't presently have the means to roast his own beans. It also so happens that he is in the early stages of establishing a church in the arts district of Kansas City. He has my moral support in this, and I wish I could send him a little financial support as well.
But, Ariel: Wichita's need is at least as large as KC's, which (I know, I know) happens to rank #1 on the 10-Worst Dating list but, apparently, does not lack for coffeeshops. So, while I do wish you well over there in KC, just know that the single folks of Wichita are not sufficiently caffeinated, un-hooked-up, AND unchurched. They--we all--could use you here.
UPDATE: Bring me java, bring me joy:
