Travels in the Real, and not-so-real, World

The weather has been unusually pleasant this past month. With temperatures in the 50s, sunny weather and the smell of flowers in the air it would appear that spring has arrived in the Pacific Northwest (knock on wood). My condolences to those living east of here — enjoy the cold weather. With the pleasant weather, I decided to wander about Kirkland a bit and ended up spending a fair bit of time at a rather interesting new cafe in downtown Kirkland — Terra Bite Lounge.

It’s been receiving a fair bit of publicity for it’s main innovation — customers (such as they are) pay what they want and feel like. No, it’s not run by a religious organization, and it’s not a charity (though they assert that they will share profits among employees and donate to charities). It’s a bold experiment to be sure, though perhaps not as doomed to failure as you might think. So far it seems to be doing alright, with most customers approximating what they pay at other cafes and coffee places. If it does succeed it will have to do with a few factors: affluence, conscientiousness and, of course, Seattle’s insatiable addiction to espresso.

I’m sure there’s a potentially interesting economic model one could construct to predict and explain the behavior of customers payment patterns at such a venue. What I think is even more interesting is how such a pay-what-you-want model could affect the third space conception of coffee shops in suburban American environs. Namely, the lack of truly public spaces for people of varied backgrounds to gather in today’s suburbs has left a gaping void that Starbucks has in large part tried to fill. Now, a Starbucks is obviously a poor substitute for the open-air market or public square of eras past, but it’s something. For instance, a lot of people who telecommute/work from home find Starbucks’ in the suburbs a great place to work around people; a way to overcome the often-isolated nature of life in the typical American suburb.

The central conceit of a public space however is not quite matched by a suburban coffee shop — you have to pay to be there. If, however, payment becomes voluntary and a secondary feature of the cafe, not a central one, then perhaps coffee shops and lounges can better approximate the public venues present in urban areas. So is this the beginning of a bold new trend? Well, it’s unlikely — as I said, this will probably only work in a few places that are both affluent and conscientious in the self-aware and serious way typical among folks in the coastal parts of the Pacific Northwest. Furthermore, downtown Kirkland is a very atypical “suburb” center, if one can even call it that.

Another criticism might be that this is somewhat socialistic/communistic or at least anti-capitalist in nature. I don’t think that applies as the potential subsidizing of poorer clientele by richer ones is entirely voluntary. If anything, it’s a natural outgrowth of capitalism’s assumption that charity is more appropriate than government intervention. Well, all this is probably overkill for what’s really a simple, interesting experiment — let’s see how it does!

The clock strikes midnight, the crowds cheer, I mumble the words that everyone seems to say to each other at this moment. An artificial one, to be sure, but so are most human constructs of time. I step outside, it’s a cold night, but the skies are clear. For the first time in a while, I see my moon-shadow against the crisp, white snow. Gazing up at a night sky I didn’t expect to see in a bright city I begin to despair.

I despair to think of our lack of ambition, our sheer provincialism when a universe of unending wonder exists, and most of us could care less about it. Futurists argue that the next centuries will be an exploration of the ‘inner’ rather than the ‘outer’. They (usually with a naive idealism that I at once appreciate and abhor) point to direct human-computer interfaces, genetic engineering and the inherent possibilities of innovations in these fields as the beginning of a new era for our exploration of the possibilities of human existence. And perhaps, just perhaps, that is a more meaningful, cost-effective path for humanity’s future and fulfillment. For heaven’s sake, we haven’t yet managed to get clean drinking water to every person on this planet, not by a long-shot.

Yet, I find myself again staring at the night sky with awe and wonder; and so I begin slowly to comprehend the occasional futility of reason in the face of curiosity and what must surely be our destiny.