Late I know but...

This thread reminded me that one of the nicest cups of free fresh coffee I ever enjoyed was the first time I was in the US in about 1967 -ish in a bank in ...um...Salem, Oregon. It was Christmas Eve and I had gone in to change a few more travellers cheques, to find to my utter amazement the bank staff handing out free cups of coffee and....cookies I suppose. It was a long time ago.

They were all wearing Santa hats and wishing everyone seasons greetings and there was jolly Christmas music, and I was so dumbfounded I really wondered if I had walked into someone's party or something. It was rather strange.

You have to bear in mind that banking in the UK in those days was a terribly serious and formal affair. You didn't have conversations or exchange jollities, the opening hours were few and far between and automatic money machines were still science fiction. The actual transaction took place in hushed, awed and grateful silence, and here I was drinking coffee and singing carols... Fresh ground coffee was also something of a rarity and pretty tasteless. Wow, I actually remember the pleasure of that cuppa. Thanks for the memory:)

They were probably sobering up people between the office party and home, or where ever they were headed. :D

I don't think there'd be a workplace anywhere in Australia that doesn't provide coffee, tea and hot chocolate. At ours we (almost) always have biscuits to go with our coffee and various other snacks from time to time.