Preventable failures

Last night, I caught wind of Society Coffee‘s closing, which apparently happened in October.

If you visit that link, it should result in absolutely nothing happening, because the site is down. My “humor” is an acquired taste, I know…

I’m disappointed with the closing of Society Coffee for two main reasons:

  1. Practical: It was a great café with wonderful employees and delicious food
  2. Sentimental: I organized an event there with my Fairy Blogmother last year

Thinking back, there were obvious areas for improvement, and no one did anything to address them.

For what felt like months, Society punished its patrons with inadequate AC during the warm NYC summer. This is one of the reasons I stopped visiting, frankly.

The food at Society was a bit expensive, and it was not uncommon for them to be out of critical items in the kitchen.

They would have benefited from more community involvement (poetry slams, live music on weekends, etc.)

Service was not always up to par, and some employees were a bit unfriendly.

I could go on, but I can’t help but wonder what would have happened — how things might be different — if I had cared more and shared these frustrations with the owner.

What a shame.

Willie Jackson is a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Consultant & Facilitator with ReadySet, a boutique consulting firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a frequent writer and speaker on the topics of workplace equity, global diversity, and inclusive leadership. Connect on LinkedIn or get in touch.