BELINDA Howard was working alongside her husband in their coffee cart when she had an idea to write a message on every take-away cup served to customers.
"If I had some down time, I would write some positive quotes, then I started writing our business name, and then a countdown to Christmas [2020], and then someone mentioned writing jokes and I thought, 'That's cool'," she recalls.
"I started doing it and now I do it every single day. Just jokes, the same joke on every cup, but a different joke every day."
"I started by Googling "dad jokes" and and then one of my customers gave me a joke book, so that's where they are coming from now."
Notwithstanding multiple lockdowns and associated business and family stresses, Belinda and Scott continue to deliver their daily dose of coffee mirth at their business, Rise N Shine Espresso Bar.
The business began as a coffee cart in November 2019, an early morning, part-time endeavour to supplement the family day care centre they ran from their home.
Trading across from McDonalds at Cameron Park, they slowly built up their trade and after three months they closed their other business to focus full-time on the cart.
Within weeks, the pandemic had arrived in the Hunter but the business kept on keeping on.
"Everyone had to stay home but they could go outside for coffee and it was great for us," Belinda says.
Things changed in early 2021, when they were forced to look for a new location to trade as developers moved in to build a housing estate at their location.
"We started looking for somewhere to go that was suitable for our customer base and our shop at West Wallsend came up," Scott says, adding that it was handy they lived within a two-minute drive when opening their doors at 430am.
The business opened in July and within weeks another lockdown began, however the couple kept trading through an "express" window.
Through it all, Belinda continued to write her daily jokes.
"I just wanted to brighten people's day. You hear all the time about the importance of treating people nicely because you don't know what they are going through. Someone one might be happy on the outside but down and upset inside and you being nice can put them on a high. They could be suicidal and you don't know it. Just by smiling or saying 'have a nice day', or 'your hair looks lovely' can keep people going," she says.
"Over the last two years and the last 12 months I have personally noticed myself struggling with my own mental health, dealing with COVID, children, and running a business. My sister passed away 12 years ago. It all adds up, some days are harder than others.
The Howards, who remarried and have four children in their family, delivered to customers in need during lockdown and are big on hospitality.
"We really wanted to offer really good service and a good product, good coffee and a nice friendly atmosphere, because you go into a lot of businesses and they don't greet you, you feel like a number," Scott says.
Adds Belinda: "We want our customers to walk out and go, 'Wow that was nice they were friendly, they know my name. They remember that I was going away weekend. We know our regulars and their coffee order. And I don't care if you come in for the first time or five days a week, I always make sure to say 'Have a lovely day'."
They believe that the community is craving positivity and connection more than ever right now.
Which is also why Belinda has vowed to continue writing jokes on every single cup - even if it takes half a minute for each of the estimated 130 cups of coffee made each day.
"I was busy one night and didn't get to write on the cups and people were saying the next day, 'I didn't get my joke' and I was like, 'Oh, so you do read them!" laughs Belinda.
"I think it stopped for a day and a lot of people commented and I thought, 'Wow, we are making a difference'."
"Scott tells me all the time if I'm too busy not to worry about the cups, but I am like, 'NO, they need the joke. Customers say they take their cups to work and people around them ask what the joke is, and if there is no joke what can they say?"
In case you're wondering, Belinda is happy to nominate her favourite joke, at least to date.
Question: What's the fastest cake in the world?
Answer: Meringgggggguuuuuue (uttered like a car accelerating and speeding off).
Everything, it seems, is in the delivery.
