We’re used to saying a quick “thank you,” to the barista who serves us coffee, or the kind stranger who holds the door open as we leave the cafe. But how many people would you have to thank if you wanted to express gratitude to absolutely everyone responsible for your morning cup of coffee?
That’s a concept writer AJ Jacobs explores in his TED Talk and new book, Thanks a Thousand, based on his journey to thank everyone involved in getting that daily cup of joe into his hands.
While Jacobs initially believed his choice to focus on a cup of coffee would be a simple task, he soon learned that there were hundreds of people involved in producing the hot drink most of us take for granted every day.
“I would thank the trucker who drove the coffee beans to the coffee shop, but he couldn’t have done his job without the road. So I would thank the people who paved the road, and then I would thank the people who made the asphalt for the pavement,” Jacobs says. “And I came to realize that…
