Freegaia 5 – The Private Café

Freegaia – The City Begins to Shine · Episode 1 · Episode 5 of 23

Sunday, one week later, at Alice's. There are mismatched cups on the table.

Helena is folding napkins into swans, and Gustav is sitting on a chair facing the kitchen door, where the cake will be brought in later.

The doorbell rings.

First comes the cake. Bob carries it in front of him as if it were something that mustn't tip over, and behind him, on Carla's arm, comes Grandma Emma. She stops in the hallway and watches the commotion.

„So you’re Alice,“ she says. „It all started with you.“

„And you’re Grandma Emma.“ Alice takes her cardigan off her. „Everyone here has been talking about your cake for a week.“

Helena leads Emma to the armchair, on which she has placed a pillow. Gustav stands next to it. „Are you our grandma now?“

„Gustav!“ Alice calls out.

„I’d love to this afternoon,“ says Grandma Emma.

The doorbell rings again. Dave, with his gym bag slung over his shoulder. And behind him, a young man with glasses, waving shyly.

„Let me introduce you,“ says Bob. „Fred.“

„Fred?“ Carla asks. „The one on the map?“

„Fred.“ Fred shakes everyone’s hand. „Bob installed Linux for me this week. In an hour. I’d been putting it off for three months.“

„And in return, he's building me a website,“ says Bob. „But today he's just here for the cake.“

Then the cake is cut. Gustav gets the first slice because he's standing closest. The room falls silent, and all you can hear is the clinking of forks.

„I hardly ever eat sugar because of my job,“ Dave says after his second bite. „But this isn’t a cake. It’s an argument.“

And then Emma's iPad starts beeping in her purse. Once. Twice. Then it won't stop.

She takes it out, puts on her glasses, and at first doesn't understand what she's seeing: one email after another. Alice sent you 20.00 Gradido. Then Bob. Then Dave, Carla-Sonne, Fred. And Alice again, five Gradido, and when Emma opens the email, it says at the bottom, in letters that aren't all the same size:

For the Best Cake in the World

„That was me,“ says Helena. „From Mom’s cell phone.“

„But,“ says Emma, „I was just baking.“

„Exactly,“ says Bob.

Emma looks around the room, then at the iPad, then back around the room. „Now I understand why you call it “gratitude currency.’ You can’t give anything without getting something back.”

Over their second cup of coffee, Dave sits down next to her. They talk about hiking, about the trails she used to walk, and about the one at the edge of the forest that she hasn't managed to hike in years.

„Do you know what mental training means to me?“ Dave says. „You tell me about your journey. And then we’ll get it back. Step by step, at your own pace.“

„At my own pace,“ says Emma. „It’s been a long time since anyone offered me that.“

„Thursday at ten. Carla will bring you.“

Alice is standing in the kitchen doorway, coffee pot in hand, looking into her living room. Just two weeks ago, she used to sit here alone in the evenings after the kids went to sleep. Now it’s full of people. She didn’t have to convince anyone. She just showed them.

In the corner by the window, Bob and Fred are putting their heads together. Fred is drawing on one of Helena's swan-patterned napkins, which is unfolded.

„What are you whispering about?“ Carla calls out.

„Talking shop,“ says Bob.

„For now,“ says Fred.

On the way home, Bob is driving, and Emma is holding the empty cake plate on her lap.

At the traffic light, she asks, „So? Did you find the hook?“

„Not with the cake,“ says Bob.

Here's how it works in the software

What happens at Alice's table happens at yours, too: Anyone who has an account says thank you, and anyone who doesn't yet have one can get one in ten minutes using your code from Episode 2. This is how you send Gradido with a message, and this is how the thanks reaches the other person.

1. Say thank you with a message. Tap „Send“ in the menu. For the recipient, just enter the username—just as Emma types in „Carla-Sonne“; you can also access this from the card or your contacts by tapping „Send Gradido,“ and the name will already be filled in. Then enter the amount. Next, fill in the „Message“ field—this isn’t optional; it’s required, because the message is your thank-you. One sentence is enough—even one with letters that aren’t all the same size. The app asks again: „Confirm your transaction. Please double-check all the details!“ Tap „Send Now,“ and your thank-you is on its way.
2. What resonates with others. First, an email, just like Emma received: „[Your Name] sent you 20.00 Gradido,“ containing your message and a button that takes you to the conversation. Then, the next time you open your account, at the very top of the overview, you’ll see the tile „Your thank-you has arrived.“, featuring your profile picture, the line „[Your Name] thanks you with 20.00 Gradido,“ and your message. And under „Transactions,“ the thank-you appears as „Received,“ with your message below it—forever.
3. The thanks comes back. In the tile, the other person replies with an emoji—just one tap is all it takes. Then you’ll receive an email: „Your thank-you has been received,“ with the emoji displayed in large font and your message repeated below it. And right next to the thank-you they received, the account asks them: „Pass on the thank-you?“ Tap „Thank someone,“ and the next thank-you is on its way. That’s how the rain in Emma’s purse comes to be.

Have you already sent a thank-you message? Then check your overview today to see if there’s a thank-you waiting for you, and reply with an emoji. Are you sitting at a table and don’t have an account yet? Then ask for the code: „Show it to your friends“ is listed on every member’s first page, and you’ll have an account in ten minutes (Episode 2).

Next episode on Thursday, November 19: „Freegaia 6 – Step by Step.“ On Thursday at ten to ten, Carla pulls up in front of Emma’s house, and at Dave’s place, there are postcards hanging on the wall: paths that people have reclaimed.
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