Luke de Waal

We got up to meet with Luke at Kawa on 8^th street two hours before going to work. After only sleeping 6 hours and looking at a day of working for 11, starting a day sharing hot coffee with a friendly stranger made everything feel easier.

We sat together at a table in the corner, half asleep and make-up free getting to know each other, overcoming initial shyness and joking about our blog being an elaborate “nice boy” serial killing scam.

Luke handled our over tired, underfed ridiculousness with grace and patience and made a point to laugh at my unfunny jokes.

A former farmer, truck driver, swiss resident, construction worker, warehouse worker, English literature major, Luke’s passion for and interest in coffee has sent him down a career path that he has no problem committing to. He works as a top notch barista at Café Crema and gave us the impression that he loves close to every minute of it.

Luke has lived many lives. This has led him to a place where we an all aspire to, contentment and excitement about what he is doing and a desire to continue doing it. 

Spending time with someone like Luke, who was willing to open up about himself and wanting to know more about us helped us remember why we started this project. To remind ourselves that there are nice boys out there and that time with those nice boys makes life feel great.

Q&A (with an extra touch of i-haven’t-slept-enough-or-talked-to-anybody-yet-this-today)

Do you eat breakfast?

Maybe like, sixty percent of the time.

And the other forty?

The other forty I have a glass of milk or a half a litre of coffee. I wish I was exaggerating. 

What is your favourite thing to make for breakfast if you’re cooking for someone else?

Maybe like bacon and eggs otherwise I make a pretty mean french toast. You can take mean any way you like.

How many hours do you sleep each night?

I shoot for 8 but its usually 5 or 6.

What are you like when you don’t get that much sleep?

Uh  hyper, low attention span.

Are you better in the morning or in the evening?

Evening.

Period hey?

Oh, period.

What is your favourite day of the week?

I like Wednesday. Wednesday is a pretty good day.

Hump day hey?

That’s the one.

Uncomfortable laughter from everyone

How often do you exercise?

Usually four or five days a week. 

Do you like to do lunges?

I do not like them at all.

What’s wrong with lunges?

They make me want to puke?

Have you ever been in a fight?

Uh it’s been a while since like grade nine. So, yes but barely.

What was the fight about?

Some kids beat up my brother so I beat them up.

How many kids is “some kids”?

Six.

You beat SIX kids up?

Yeah.

Wow.

I reached this size at a really early age so everybody else was a couple sizes behind me. Back then everyon was still short, small and easy to take on. 

Who do you know you can depend on?

My family.

Who do talk to every day/ most often?

My dog. And then maybe my coworkers and family. 

Is he a good conversationalist?

Amazing.

What is your dogs name?

Onyx

Onyx like the stone or the rapper?

The stone cause shes black and the stone is black.

…

Tupac Biggie?

I saw you ask that question I was thinking about it and I realized they are both tough dead gangster guys and so if I pick one over the other I’ll be haunted by one tough dead gangster guy. So can I be like switzerland and take the neutral route?

No.

Tupac.

If we were to drive out to the coast together, what song would we listen to on repeat?

ummmmmm probably “You Can’t Handle This” by Five Iron Frenzy. 

Did you ever wear baggy pants and listen to rap?

Yeah for one summer when I was thirteen. That was a dark summer.

What was the 12 year old version of you like?

I had short straight hair. I kind of looked like a punk but I was just starting to listen to gritz and that kind of crappy rap, homeschooled, quite , shy, bookworm, nerd. 

Do you think that that kid would think that today’s version of you would be cool?

Oh definitely!

What is one impressive fact/something surprising about you?

I never actually went to really any kind of a real school . I was homeschooled the entire time from kindergarten through grade 12. 

Do you think that has had an effect on your social skills?

YEAH! I don’t have any social skills. 

What do you know about changing oil and soldering wires?

Enough to understand not enough to master.

Manliest thing about you?

I guess I used to be a construction worker. That was pretty manly. Truck driver comes in close second. I’ve chose a more lucrative profession…being a barista. 

What do you think makes a man a man?

Integrity, character and a Y chromosome. Other than that I think it’s pretty wide open. I think having a dog. Having a dog is a pretty good.

What causes you to geek out?

OH oh oh dune and video games

What is dune?

The science fiction novels from the 60s-80s

Which video games?

Gears of war, crisis, splinter cell games

 Do you ever play dance central?

No. I have no coordination.

I beat dance central last week. 

You’re amazing.

Thanks.

You’re welcome.