Not sure if this is a coincidence…
I don’t spend a lot of time here on SW, so I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned my new-ish favorite drink, kava. It’s kind of like a safer form of alcohol, but also very different. Anyway, it’s helped me curb my drinking. But an old friend from church introduced me to it. He took me to a kava bar in a town about 50 miles away, and I loved it.
Anyway, he also had a local friend from Florida who’s really into kava and had owned a kava lounge in Florida, and was planning on opening one up here. He seemed like a pretty cool guy. So once he opened up the local kava lounge, I quickly became a regular. The kava itself wasn’t as good as the stuff 50 miles away, but it was only ten miles away, so the choice was obvious. The lounge had a great atmosphere and had fun social events like karaoke, chess nights, etc. But the place didn’t take long to get popular. In just a month, it went from a hole in the wall place where nobody knew what kava even is, to THE “bar” where all the sober folks go. Packed every night. This success got to the owner’s head (let’s call him John), and he got a bit snobbish. I left a review on Yelp with some constructive criticism. It wasn’t a bad review—I just mentioned the prices are getting ridiculous (others had mentioned the same), and that one of the employees was kind of rude to me once.
He did NOT take this well. No apologies or even justification. “Clearly this is not the place for you. Stop leaving negative reviews.”
So I quit going there for several months. Unfortunately, with it being the only kava bar near me, I just started making my own kava at home. But a couple months passed, and I was curious if any improvements had been made. So as I was driving by one day, I decided to drop in—see if prices were more reasonable, if there were new employees, etc., and have a shell or two. There was one new kavatender. I sat down and ordered a mocktail, and suddenly one of the old employees saw me, walked up and said, “John said you aren’t allowed here. Please leave.”
I was stunned, stood there for a few seconds, and then left, fuming.
Anyway, all that backstory to say…John and I obviously have a beef…yet we have this weird habit of accidentally running into each other.
A couple months ago was KavaCon, a national convention of kava enthusiasts. I went, and guess who was there? It was John! I was behind him in line to buy some merch…then he glanced behind me, saw me, and swiftly ran to another room with a terrified look on his face!
Then today, I was at the kava bar 50 miles away, since that’s the closest one I’m allowed at, and he was there AGAIN! I was surprised that he ever patronized that place, as I figured they were his biggest competitor, but he walked in about five minutes after me. I just kind of ignored him…I’m not sure if he noticed I was there, but if he did, he ignored me too. I did eavesdrop on his conversation a bit—apparently he’s had some marketing trouble, with the Internet saying his business is a restaurant, even though he doesn’t serve food. Anyway, I left without saying a word to him.
I dunno, man. We keep running into each other on accident. I’m not sure if it’s a God thing or just a coincidence.
Part of me wants to open up my own kava bar in town to compete with him. I wouldn’t be so pissed about being banned if there were other options. But he basically had a monopoly on kava in my town. Maybe I should fix that.
Anyway, he also had a local friend from Florida who’s really into kava and had owned a kava lounge in Florida, and was planning on opening one up here. He seemed like a pretty cool guy. So once he opened up the local kava lounge, I quickly became a regular. The kava itself wasn’t as good as the stuff 50 miles away, but it was only ten miles away, so the choice was obvious. The lounge had a great atmosphere and had fun social events like karaoke, chess nights, etc. But the place didn’t take long to get popular. In just a month, it went from a hole in the wall place where nobody knew what kava even is, to THE “bar” where all the sober folks go. Packed every night. This success got to the owner’s head (let’s call him John), and he got a bit snobbish. I left a review on Yelp with some constructive criticism. It wasn’t a bad review—I just mentioned the prices are getting ridiculous (others had mentioned the same), and that one of the employees was kind of rude to me once.
He did NOT take this well. No apologies or even justification. “Clearly this is not the place for you. Stop leaving negative reviews.”
So I quit going there for several months. Unfortunately, with it being the only kava bar near me, I just started making my own kava at home. But a couple months passed, and I was curious if any improvements had been made. So as I was driving by one day, I decided to drop in—see if prices were more reasonable, if there were new employees, etc., and have a shell or two. There was one new kavatender. I sat down and ordered a mocktail, and suddenly one of the old employees saw me, walked up and said, “John said you aren’t allowed here. Please leave.”
I was stunned, stood there for a few seconds, and then left, fuming.
Anyway, all that backstory to say…John and I obviously have a beef…yet we have this weird habit of accidentally running into each other.
A couple months ago was KavaCon, a national convention of kava enthusiasts. I went, and guess who was there? It was John! I was behind him in line to buy some merch…then he glanced behind me, saw me, and swiftly ran to another room with a terrified look on his face!
Then today, I was at the kava bar 50 miles away, since that’s the closest one I’m allowed at, and he was there AGAIN! I was surprised that he ever patronized that place, as I figured they were his biggest competitor, but he walked in about five minutes after me. I just kind of ignored him…I’m not sure if he noticed I was there, but if he did, he ignored me too. I did eavesdrop on his conversation a bit—apparently he’s had some marketing trouble, with the Internet saying his business is a restaurant, even though he doesn’t serve food. Anyway, I left without saying a word to him.
I dunno, man. We keep running into each other on accident. I’m not sure if it’s a God thing or just a coincidence.
Part of me wants to open up my own kava bar in town to compete with him. I wouldn’t be so pissed about being banned if there were other options. But he basically had a monopoly on kava in my town. Maybe I should fix that.
36-40, M
