1. What is your favourite coffee shop? Why do you go there? What sort of customer service do you expect from them? e.g. to be knowledgeable, courteous, responsive and timely.
Read article here: No Strollers
2.What is your reaction?
3. Would the idea of having no pushchairs, music, or laptops in a cafe appeal to you? Or would it put you off going there? Could you 'forget' your objections if they served the best coffee in town?
4. Do you believe the owner, Ralph Ruller, when he states that the ban on strollers is for safety purposes? If you don't, what do you think his motivation is for doing this?
5. The reaction to the ban has been mostly negative - do you think that the cafe deserves the title 'Café Heartless', or that they are 'socially incorrect'?
6. Are 'coffee connoisseurs' food snobs? How would you describe a stereotypical food snob? Do you have them in your country? What products can they be snobby about? (In the UK, it's usually related to wine and cheese) Sugar is banned at the 'The Barn - Roastery' as it interferes with the coffee's flavour - are you supportive of this, or do you think that it's an indication of the cafe's desire to micro-manage everything?
7. Is the Barn - Roastery and other establishments like it 'anti-family'? Do you think they represent a world that favours young, urban professionals, or is it just an innocent trend in a divided market?
8. Choose one of the following:
a) I would be happy to drink a 3 ounce espresso at the Barn-Roastery on a regular basis.
b) I would be happy to attend an angry protest outside the Barn-Roastery.
9. Are there any cafes/shops/institutions that have unusual rules in your town/country? What are they? Are they subject to media scrutiny?
..........
Situation 1
Following the media outcry, Ralph Ruller (your teacher) has decided to hire a PR assistant to handle some of the negative press. You are that PR assistant. What advice/strategies will you give him?
Situation 2
You are the health and safety officer for your local district. You are concerned by the bollard placed outside the door of the new Barn-Roastery. Speak to the proprietor (your teacher) about your concerns.
..........
Discuss quotes
"The true definition of a snob is one who craves for what separates men rather than for what unites them."
--- John Buchan
“I'm not a snob. Ask anybody. Well, anybody who matters.”
― Simon Le Bon
“Coffee is a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to your older self.”
― Terry Pratchett
“The powers of a man's mind are directly proportioned to the quantity of coffee he drinks.”
― Sir James Mackintosh
“It is a matter of economic well-being that most families be formed as mother, father, and children in a single-family household.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith
"It is one of man's curious idiosyncrasies to create difficulties for the pleasure of resolving them."
--- Joseph de Maistre
Student Handout PDF here: No Strollers
Photo: Yan Krukov
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