I was seated earlier this week at Teddy & Me - a café themed after Mr. Bean, and I really liked the ambience and location.

Without turning this into a café review, which I may decide to do at some point, perhaps on another platform, I thought I'd share something I learned while I was there.

They screened episodes of Mr. Bean, and I realised that it had been 25 years or so since the first episodes of the series came out. There was another screen of the animated series, which was not within view of my seat.

The incredible popularity and universal appeal of a near-silent character is remarkable. There is no ambiguity regarding his intentions on screen, and people from all cultures understand the message he conveys using only his facial expressions and actions.

This is an excerpt from The Los Angeles Times (http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/20/entertainment/la-et-rowan-atkinson-20111020):

"They go to these African villages where there are four thatched huts," said Atkinson, 56. "There is nobody in any of them except one, where the entire village is crammed in there. There's a tiny black-and-white TV set being powered by a car battery, and there's a 'Mr. Bean' VHS tape being played."

Without doubt, the character Mr. Bean is an amazing communicator (so is the actor Rowan Atkinson, of course). His message is received willingly and accurately and my main takeaway was that this is the standard to strive for as a communicator - to be simple and intentional.