It was the attention to detail that snapped me out of my grumpy daze, showed me this shop's LOVE for coffee and its culture, and thus showed me LOVE. And that was enough to make the remainder of our drive much more enjoyable!

It is honestly a surprise I have not talked about the PEOPLE at Trader Joe's. No matter where you go, what state you are in, the PEOPLE who work at Trader Joe's share a sort of LOVE with the world that I rarely see anywhere else.

Whatever they are, do them during the holidays and see where LOVE shows up in you. Is it in the song you hum with the world around you? Is it in the gentle stretch you embrace when you wake up?

It is so jarring to be noticed, as a person, rather than as a customer.

And this coffee shop, on this trip, on these days, with these PEOPLE, I was able to learn that LOVE is a hard process. Often we are asking more questions than we have answers. But I also learned that LOVE reveals itself when PEOPLE begin to ask those very questions.

I feel at home, a feeling I did not expect when I romanticized being a regular at a local coffee shop. I know others feel the same. And all it took was a few simple, atypical changes to a typical coffee shop to create a community of PEOPLE who belong and share LOVE.

What is marvelous is that this LOVE these two sought to create for the PEOPLE who came to their shop caused their guests to LOVE the same. Families laughed openly with each other, young people gave up seats for those who needed it, and PEOPLE asked to know the story of the strangers sitting around them.

When you pay with card, the screen offers you a "recommended" payment price. But then it offers you choices less than that, all the way down to zero dollars. Woah! Optional pricing. Who is that for? PEOPLE.

LOVE does not have to be big to make a travel experience great … This may be a time where the majority of your experiences are anti-social. But that does not mean the majority will win out in our hearts.