Imperial Coffee Shop

A couple of times, during conversations with friends, I've mentioned that I was raised not only in a typical neighborhood setting (the West End of Louisville, Kentucky), but in an atypical setting as well - a restaurant located at 7th and Jefferson in downtown Louisville. While rummaging through some old photos the other day I happened upon a picture of my Dad's restaurant (the Imperial Coffee Shop), the place where I spent about as much time as I did in my West End neighborhood.

As I reflected on the picture of the restaurant, I came to realize just how influential the Imperial Coffee Shop was on my upbringing. The key lesson that it taught me about life was in regards to just how important it is to know from an early age not only what you might want to do vocationally as a career choice, but to also know what you don't want to do career wise, based on what your work experiences were during those early years.

Although I have fond memories of "growing up" in a restaurant that was opened seven days a week for fourteen hours a day, by the time I was a teenager, I knew for sure that I never wanted to make owning a restaurant my life's work. Work-wise I didn't want to follow in my father's footsteps, although it could have been a logical choice, I suppose.

Funny how pictures can trigger emotions regarding a person's progression to wherever they might be at a particular point in their life. Old pictures help to make some since of it all. The accompanying picture of the Imperial Coffee Shop is over fifty years old. I've posted it to the left and at the bottom of the blog page.