THIS IS WHY I NEED TILLIE'S

You see, my little rant yesterday about the cafe Tillie's in my new Brooklyn 'hood was truly written with sadness and not venom. And just now I discovered why I really need a place like Tillie's. You see, there's this Starbucks I found in Manhattan, and, as I've alluded to, I come here regularly because unlike most Starbucks where you have to pay for a WiFi connection through T-Mobile Hotspot, this one must be near some kindly young or old soul with an open Airport connection. But aside from Starbucks being expensive and crowded and ... well ... Starbucks (even though this one has a warmer and more comfortable feel than most), I've always wanted to have my own little independent neighborhoody hangout that I liked and where the people knew me.

Yesterday I worked at this Starbucks for about four hours. The day before, for about five. Today, I got here around 3:15, just before they started having some free "party" giving away little cookies and bags of their ground Christmas blend. One of the women who work here came over to see if I wanted a taste of the coffee. I said, "Sure." She said, "I'll give you some cookies too. You work too hard. How long have you been here today? Four, four-and-a-half hours?" (Let's skip over the fact that I'm here "working" on things because I'm unemployed and getting paid nada for all the things I'm "working" on, most of which involve trying to get a job!) "Uhm, no, I just got here. But I was here for a while yesterday."

And that was it. I've been here so much over the past three days that the employees already know me, and joking about Starbucks being my "office" is no longer a joke. It's just sad.

Oh Tillie's. (sigh)

Comments

[MercuryX23]

Hey, don't bag on the Starbucks! I have a Starbucks that I have been writing at on a regular basis for the past four years or so. Even after I moved some fifteen miles away from it, it is still on my way home from work (teaching in lovely South Los Angeles!). I, personally, am happy there is no free WiFi because otherwise I might find reasons to distract myself. What I like about this particular Starbucks is that no employee seems to work there for more than a week. It's the weirdest thing. But I can sit, plug in, drink my one or two coffee drinks and stare at my computer, wondering when the words will simply write themselves.

It's comfortable because it's the place I have been going and will probably keep going to until I leave L.A. (which may happen within the next 6 months!). If and when I move, I'll have to try out a few places before I find the "right place."

[Aaron]

First of all, Merc, you're in LA so a Starbucks is acceptable because ... well ... you're in LA and that's a problem in itself.

Second ... you might be LEAVING LA???????

[MercuryX23]

Let's just put it this way:

My 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom house that I bought for $400,000 is now worth $550,000 but if I sell, I still cannot afford to move to a bigger house in the greater L.A. area even with $150,000 in equity because my mortgage on the $750,000 house that I will need to contain my hopefully growing family is far outside of my reach as an L.A. teacher (even though I am in one of the highest paying districts in the country).

Add the fact that my wife wants to pursue her Ph.D. at ASU and live closer to her parents and that in Phoenix we can get a house twice as large as our current Spanish bungalow that has a swimming pool for around $200,000 that will most likely be worth twice as much in 5 years or so and the cost of living there is 25% lower and as much as I love L.A., I just don't have a pressing need to live here nor raise my son here, well, it just seems an opportune moment to pursue my propests elsewhere (assuming I can get into the intern/credential program in Phoenix...which I assume I will).

I said more than I intended...ah, well.