“待用咖啡”愛心傳遞

A simple act of charity and generosity that started in a coffee shop in Naples， Italy， is spreading around the world. It’s called “Suspended Coffee”.

The idea is simple： At participating cafes， you can pay for your own coffee as well as a second one， which can then be heeded later by someone in need.

In Italy， suspended coffee or “Caffe Sospeso” has been around for 100 years.

The Neapolitan writer Luciano de Crescenzo， author of Suspended Coffee： Daily Wisdom in Small Sips， told NPR about its origins.

“It was a beautiful custom，” he recalls. “When a person who had a break of good luck entered a cafe and ordered a cup of coffee， he didn’t pay just for one， but for two cups， allowing someone less fortunate who entered later to have a cup of coffee for free.”

Baristas would keep a record of the purchase and when someone down on their luck walked into the cafe and asked “Is there anything suspended？”， the barista would nod and give them a cup of coffee for free.

It’s an elegant way to show generosity and is based on good faith. The donors and recipients never meet each other. The donor doesn’t show off and the recipient doesn’t have to show gratitude.

Now， tough economic times and growing poverty in much of Europe are reviving this tradition. The NPR reported that the practice is now spreading to other parts of Europe and the prepaid cup of coffee has become a symbol of grassroots solidarity.

In Bulgaria， more than 150 cafes have joined an initiative modeled on the suspended coffee tradition.

In Spain， Gonzalo Sapina， a young man from Barcelona， started a network called “Cafes Pendientes” and promoted the initiative among many coffee shops.

In France， several cafes now do similarly by carrying the logo “Cafe en attente”.

There is even a website （CoffeeSharing.com） that lists cafes that have joined the Suspended Coffee initiative—the countries on the list include the UK， Hungary， Australia and Canada.

But not everyone thinks suspended coffee is a good idea. Some points out that the practice could result in “greedy， cheap people” taking advantage of others’ good will. Also， it adds， if we want to help poor people， perhaps we should try having actual contact with them in order to truly understand their situations and needs.

一個源于意大利那不勒斯當地一家咖啡館的小小善舉正在全球范圍內傳播，這就是“待用咖啡”。

這個理念很簡單。在加入此項活動的咖啡館，你可以買兩杯咖啡，一杯給自己，另一杯留給稍后需要的人。

在意大利，“待用咖啡”（意大利語稱其為“Caffe Sospeso”）已有近百年的歷史。

來自那不勒斯的作家、《待用咖啡：唇齒間的點滴智慧》一書的作者盧西亞諾·德·克雷申佐在接受美國國家公共電臺NPR采訪時提起了它的起源。

“這是一項美好的風俗，”他回憶道，“一位時運正佳的人走進咖啡館，點了一杯咖啡。他不僅為自己那杯買單，還付了兩杯咖啡的錢，以便那些稍后走進咖啡館卻囊中羞澀的人可以享用一杯免費的咖啡。”

咖啡師會記下顧客的購買記錄，當有運氣不佳的人走進來詢問是否有“待用咖啡”時，咖啡師就會點頭并送上一杯免費咖啡。

這是一種源于善念的、文雅的慷慨之舉。施善者和受施者從不見面，慷慨之人不為炫富，享用善舉之人也不必感激涕零。

時下，低迷的經濟形勢再加上歐洲大部分地區的貧困化，使得這一傳統再次流行起來。NPR報道稱，這一善舉正傳播到歐洲其他地區，而這杯已付費的咖啡已成為草根階層團結一致的象征。

在保加利亞，有超過150家咖啡館自發加入“待用咖啡”行動。

在西班牙，來自巴塞羅那的年輕人岡薩羅·薩比那創立了名為“待用咖啡” 的網絡（西班牙語中，“待用咖啡”被稱為“Cafes Pendientes”），并在眾多咖啡館中推行該善舉。

在法國，一些咖啡館打出“待用咖啡”（法語中，“待用咖啡”可以用“Cafe en attente”來表示）的標識來加入這一善舉。

甚至還有一家專門的網站——CoffeeSharing.com，上面列出了自發加入“待用咖啡”活動的咖啡館，上榜的國家中包括英國、匈牙利、澳大利亞以及加拿大。

但并非每個人都認為“待用咖啡”是一個好主意。一些人指出，此善舉會引來利用他人善意、貪婪、占便宜的人。人們還指出，如果我們想要幫助貧窮的人，也許應該試著跟他們有實際的接觸，真正了解他們的處境和需要。

Vocabulary

charity：仁愛；寬容

suspend：暫緩

heed：注意；留心

origin：起源

custom：習俗

barista：咖啡師

purchase：購買

donor：捐贈者

recipient：接受者

gratitude：感激；謝意

revive：使復活；使恢復

symbol：象征；標志

solidarity：團結

initiative：主動

promote：促進；推進