0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.
http://valleywag.gawker.com/happy-holidays-startup-ceo-complains-sf-is-full-of-hum-1481067192
I was really looking forward to my trip to SF next month. Planned on meeting mc for a beer but now my meetings have been changed to Boston. Boston, in January. Great.
It's been pretty cold here for a week or so. Had to break out a scarf.
Quote from: michigancat on December 11, 2013, 12:48:27 PM It's been pretty cold here for a week or so. Had to break out a scarf.Oh man. That's tough.
Quote from: Kat Kid on December 11, 2013, 11:38:24 AMhttp://valleywag.gawker.com/happy-holidays-startup-ceo-complains-sf-is-full-of-hum-1481067192It's like, both sides are complete idiots.
Quote from: michigancat on December 11, 2013, 12:48:27 PMQuote from: Kat Kid on December 11, 2013, 11:38:24 AMhttp://valleywag.gawker.com/happy-holidays-startup-ceo-complains-sf-is-full-of-hum-1481067192It's like, both sides are complete idiots.which part of what he said do you disagree with?
comments are good:http://uptownalmanac.com/2014/01/how-not-leave-san-francisco-or-thee-oh-sees-gentrification-temper-tantrum
Oakland fifth birthday party favor?A plant.
the story of $4 toast:http://www.psmag.com/navigation/health-and-behavior/toast-story-latest-artisanal-food-craze-72676/
The other main players on Trouble’s menu are coffee, young Thai coconuts served with a straw and a spoon for digging out the meat, and shots of fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice called “Yoko.” It’s a strange lineup, but each item has specific meaning to Carrelli. Toast, she says, represents comfort. Coffee represents speed and communication. And coconuts represent survival—because it’s possible, Carrelli says, to survive on coconuts provided you also have a source of vitamin C. Hence the Yoko. (Carrelli tested this theory by living mainly on coconuts and grapefruit juice for three years, “unless someone took me out to dinner.”)
In some ways, the shop seemed to make itself downright difficult to like: It serves no decaf, no non-fat milk, no large drinks, and no espressos to go. On Yelp, several reviewers report having been scolded by baristas for trying to take pictures inside the shop with their phones. (“I better not see that up on Instagram!” one reportedly shouted.)Nevertheless, most people really seem to love Trouble. On my second visit to the shop, there was a steady line of customers out the door. After receiving their orders, they clustered outside to drink their coffees and eat their toast. With no tables and chairs to allow them to pair off, they looked more like neighbors at a block party than customers at a cafe?. And perhaps most remarkably for San Francisco, none of them had their phones out.
The menu also features a go-for-broke option called “Build Your Own Damn House,” which consists of a coffee, a coconut, and a piece of cinnamon toast.
At first, Carrelli explained Trouble as a kind of sociological experiment in engineering spontaneous communication between strangers. She even conducted field research, she says, before opening the shop. “I did a study in New York and San Francisco, standing on the street holding a sandwich, saying hello to people. No one would talk to me. But if I stayed at that same street corner and I was holding a coconut? People would engage,” she said. “I wrote down exactly how many people talked to me.”
The answer was easy: she was good at making coffee and good with people. So Glen told her it was time she opened a checking account. He told her to go to city hall and ask if they had information on starting a small business. And she followed his instructions.With $1,000 borrowed from friends, Carrelli opened Trouble in 2007 in a smelly, cramped, former dog grooming business, on a bleak commercial stretch. She renovated the space pretty much entirely with found materials, and with labor and advice that was bartered for, cajoled, and requested from her community of acquaintances.
A few weeks ago, I went back to Trouble because I hadn’t yet built my own damn house. When my coconut came, the next guy at the bar shot me a sideways glance. Sitting there with a slice of toast and a large tropical fruit, I felt momentarily self-conscious. Then the guy said to the barista, “Hey, can I get a coconut too?” and the two of us struck up a conversation.
Quote from: michigancat on January 14, 2014, 07:04:00 PMthe story of $4 toast:http://www.psmag.com/navigation/health-and-behavior/toast-story-latest-artisanal-food-craze-72676/I mean, what? QuoteThe other main players on Trouble’s menu are coffee, young Thai coconuts served with a straw and a spoon for digging out the meat, and shots of fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice called “Yoko.” It’s a strange lineup, but each item has specific meaning to Carrelli. Toast, she says, represents comfort. Coffee represents speed and communication. And coconuts represent survival—because it’s possible, Carrelli says, to survive on coconuts provided you also have a source of vitamin C. Hence the Yoko. (Carrelli tested this theory by living mainly on coconuts and grapefruit juice for three years, “unless someone took me out to dinner.”)I do like how San Franian's(did I just invent this term?!?) know how super weird they are and embrace it.
I do like how San Franian's(did I just invent this term?!?) know how super weird they are and embrace it.
But Carrelli can’t rely on such a small set of intimates. Strong ties have a history of failing her, of buckling under the weight of her illness. So she has adapted by forming as many relationships—as many weak ties—as she possibly can. And webs of weak ties are what allow ideas to spread.
Quote from: ben ji on January 14, 2014, 07:11:20 PMI do like how San Franian's(did I just invent this term?!?) know how super weird they are and embrace it.they are intentionally weird to get attention. very few of them are actually weird. you will find a much higher percentage of actual weird people in the midwest.