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london 11.11am 9C cloudy saturday 2019

KODAK Digital Still Camera

 

london 3.16pm slight rain 10C

i just got back from a pleasant time in a coffee shop, near elephant and castle. it is their first day of opening, a family affair, sitting at my table were two kids, a boy and girl and we found out that it is their parents who are opening the shop, and they are from rome. there were lots of italian looking men. it makes the place feel like it is in italy… a nice italian atmosphere. and everyone gets free coffee and snacks, and food.

and i got to chatting with the others sharing the table, a group of 3women, who told me they like coming to these freebies. i have not seen them before in the other freebies, but i guess now that i have seen them, i shall be seeing and recognising them in future events. i wonder what motivates people to set up coffee shops, it seems to me a lot of hard work, but maybe the profits are big. but the hours seem very long, but then maybe not for the owners, but for the workers who work for a salary.

ah well, for us who go to these freebies, we dont have to make much effort, but we can see those workers really work very hard serving the customers, and in free events, they dont get any tips at all, seeing there is no bill to pay.

here in uk, customers dont pay tips, if they dont have a bill, because the service charge of whatever percentage(12.5% nowadays) are included automatically in the bill. theoretically you can cancel it and pay what u wish, but nobody bothers to do it. people just pay up. but when it is freebies like this, where no bill is presented, no one feels obliged to tip  either.

here it is selfservice, but people still need to clear the tables, and wash things up.

steve sent me an email about it only this morning, i received it when it is allready 12pm. but i can get there quite easily, even though it takes two buses, i was expecting to see them there, but the whole time i was there , for about 2 or 3 hrs, i did not see any of the regular gang turned up. haha. so it must be too short notice or the place is quite difficult to get to for the others. 

KODAK Digital Still Camera

KODAK Digital Still Camera