Iced Coffee and Gentrification

There used to be a coffee shop that I enjoyed on the street in Los Angeles. It had a funky vibe to it. It was older, the coffee was inexpensive, the food was decent and mismatched furniture. At times the unhoused would mill about. The place also had a lot of artists hanging about and flyers on the bulletin board.

A few years ago, the place closed. Today for the first time in a year, I walked down the street and saw a new coffee place had taken up residence. The interior was pink, the drinks were all eight dollars, the unhoused wasn’t around, and everything matched.

I couldn’t do it. I walked right past it. If I went in and purchased coffee from this new place, it would be s betrayal of the old place that used to be there.

I am a bit odd like that. I ended up going down and paying 5.00 for an iced coffee at an upscale coffee place. The difference in my mind is that the high-end place I am now was in existence when the old funky shop was open, I enjoy going to coffee shops, and there are several on this street.

What was said is that before I went to the coffee shop, I decided to go to a green tea place that has a nice backyard patio with a fountain; when I arrived, I was greeted with a closed shop. The green tea establishment was a casualty of the pandemic.

So here I am drinking a very good iced coffee in a high-end coffee place. At the same time missing the old funky place and am upset at the high-end place that replaced the neat funky place.

Aren’t we all contradictions and hypocrites at some level?

We strive for consistency and fall short of it just as consistently.

This is what makes us human and gives us the capacity to live out our days, making room to enjoy them, and at the same time, leaving room open to serve.

Also, this is some really good Iced Coffee.

Normally Iced Coffee is too strong and too bitter, or on the flip side, too sweet. This is just right. Not too strong and not too bitter.