To be completely honest, I've done just what these guys in Philadelphia did. I use Starbucks as a business meeting place. It is cheaper than paying for space at an incubator. It is easy for people to find. People can buy drinks in advance using an app.
And yes. I've done exactly what these guys have done. I go to Starbucks and plant myself and wait for my people. I use the restroom. I soak up the WiFi. Sometimes I buy a drink. Or food. Sometimes my peeps do. Or not.
It's never been an issue.
I can only attribute that to two things.
One is that an astute manager will realize that the success of their cafe is based in part on it being seen as a community meeting place. People meeting there is more valuable than nickel and dimeing a few drinks. Keep the people meeting there and the drinks and cookies will be bought.
The other is that I'm white AF. My colleagues are white AF for the most part. We're about as benign as it gets. Especially in a college town. A middle aged bald guy with a laptop (me) talking to a middle aged woman with grey hair with a lap about is about as boring and nonthreatening as it can get.
Agree or disagree? I don't know. I wasn't on the ground in Philly.
I do have to ask why I'm not thrown the hell out of my Starbucks...
@CopperCicada I am part of an incubator, but I still meet up with people in one of the five or six Starbucks, within 1.000 yards.
A community meeting place, is exactly how Starbucks sees it. This is why they're calling for this special training. It only works though, when the police department trains its officers to serve, and protect, as opposed to demand absolute respect, and have your thin skin drive your decisions.
@Northwest One thing we've lost on all sides is discernment.
It's really not clear to me how well this Starbucks manager calculated costs and risks by having these guys thrown out. Losing customers was always a risk for a business. But we now live in a time and place where a whole chain can be shut down.
It's also really not clear to me how arresting these guys was really the appropriate response. Unless there is more to the story that I don't know about. Not sure how that is a good play for an urban community with racial tensions.
It's also really not clear to me how well the protesters are focused. I saw this picture and it broke my heart, because some poor bastard is gonna have to clock in and take shit and certainly no tips. The dude with the green cap and apron isn't exactly "the man" fucking you over.
@CopperCicada Yeah. That's yet another reason these incidents are disheartening. There are already people who are very angry and some are looking for justification to vent that anger---rarely on those who actually deserve it. And so the cycle goes. 😞
@CopperCicada Discernment, at a professional level, is what's expected from the cops. This situation, is a microcosm of our national crisis.
On the one hand, you have the Trump crowd, screaming and demanding that the people bow down to authorities, and on the other hand, the people who think the professionals should be level headed and handle the situation with humility.
The store manager could use more training, but the cops are ultimately responsible for the escalation and having real thin skin.
