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Order a Conversation
Free
Need to vent?
Something on your mind?
Or want to celebrate a win?
Tell us. Take a seat. Talk.
You can
- Talk.
- Vent.
- Cry.
- Tell us your good news.
- Say hardly anything.
- Or just sit with someone.
No advice. No judgment. No fixing.
It costs nothing
You do not have to buy a thing. Not a coffee, not a chai, nothing.
Want a drink as well? Good, we are still a café. But the two are not linked, and they never will be.
You should never have to pay to feel less alone.
It stays in the room
What you say here is private. We do not repeat it, and we do not write it down.
You lead it
Ten minutes or an hour. Talk the whole time, or sit quietly. You decide, and you decide when it ends.
How it works
- 1
Ask
Say "can I order a conversation?" at the counter. Or just ask for Amrin.
- 2
We sit down
Straight away if we can. In a few minutes if it is busy. We will tell you which.
- 3
That is it
No form to fill in, and nobody will ask you why.
Who sits down with you
Amrin, most days. She owns the place, but that is not the part that matters once she sits down.
No advice unless you ask for it. That does not mean being sat with in silence. She will talk with you properly, and she will try to understand you rather than fix you.
When she is not in, it is whoever is behind the counter, and it works the same way.
Here you are a person before you are a customer.
One thing we want to be honest about
This is one person sitting with another person. It's the thing a neighbour used to do over a fence.
It is not therapy, counselling, crisis support or professional mental-health treatment, and we won't pretend otherwise. If what you're carrying is heavier than a conversation, we'll say so kindly, and we keep information about local services behind the counter for exactly that reason.
If you need help right now: If you're in crisis right now in BC, call or text 988, or call 310-6789 for the provincial mental health line. Both are free and open 24 hours a day.
No pressure
And if talking feels like too much today
Come anyway.
Order the chai, take the seat by the window, and let the sound of a room with people in it do the work. Table for one is a perfectly good order.