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Italy's longest-serving barista reflects on six decades behind the counter

reuters.com

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Re: Italy's longest-serving barista reflects on six decades behind the counter

#141

Post by tokai »

pastage wrote: post #82
inglor_cz wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you, the infection hit quite a lot of older people very hard as well. I have problem getting some 40somethings to meet in person, even in professional contexts, they are just so soaked in a WhatsApp maelström of utterly irrelevant messages that they are conditioned to answer NOW! That said, the core of the message should not be judgments between the young and the old, but the problem that we have introdu…

> maelström Good use of that word. English has ae in Maelstrom but the contemporary word in Danish, Swedish and Norwegian is Malstrøm/Malström. I wonder when it lost it's ae, I see Mahlströmn from 1698, reading the etymology it says dutch but I wonder if they just wrote it down first. Everything about the sea is always filled with mythology. I think social media needs a less poetic word though.

It never had the ae in swedish and danish. Its from male/mala, to grind or to mill. English somehow changed it to ae, maybe through dutch where its maalstroom.

Re: Italy's longest-serving barista reflects on six decades behind the counter

#142

Post by ffuxlpff »

isoprophlex wrote: post #50

> I’ve seen generations grow up. Some grandparents come in with their grandkids and say, “Anna, remember the jukebox?” > Today, however, young people no longer come to the bar. They came when we had the dance floor and the music. Today, they like to spend time with the smartphone; they even take it to bed when they go to sleep. What are we losing, what are we taking away from life, now that we ourselves have become a…

The real explanation is that you cannot find new sex partners in bars anymore. If there's no sex, there's no reason for any kind of social life, human relations, romance, etc. anymore.

It used to be hushed because people thought nothing can keep young people away from each others bodies anyway. However, now it's apparently happened - social media, woke culture, fight for jobs...

People think it is smartphones and social skills. The real reason is men are blackpilled and stopped trying. What we are seeing is only the beginning.

Re: Italy's longest-serving barista reflects on six decades behind the counter

#143

Post by barbazoo »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #131
bevr1337 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> or move on to a different career otherwise. Folks rarely have this choice. What industry wants a barista outside food service? This is why we get stuck wearing a green apron for a decade, or working call center jobs, or any other crappy job.

People aren’t locked into being baristas. People immigrate from all over the world to the US, and become whatever they have to. Dry cleaners, landscapers, cooks, maids, nurses, etc.

Do those folks make more than minimum wage?

And becoming a nurse isn’t something you switch to after being underpaid as a barista. It’s a career with real training.

Re: Italy's longest-serving barista reflects on six decades behind the counter

#144

Post by UomoNeroNero »

8f2ab37a-ed6c wrote: post #32
Incipient wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like there are definitely two types of people that are after coffee - the morning commute people that need caffeine, and just want it fast. They'd not notice a machine doing it for them (and a lot of them would have a machine at home!) The other group is like you and I, where we like engaging with the community. I suppose three - the Starbucks crew that do it for 'likes'.

The Italian morning caffè ritual is already extremely fast: the barista works at the speed of light and the coffee you get is pretty standard, but in exchange you get a moment to rub shoulders "al banco" with others like you about to go into work, or elders just getting out of the house, a mother taking her kid to school, a policeman taking a break. You say hi to the same few people you've been seeing at the establis…

The wonderful feeling of walking into YOUR café, giving that special look to the barista, a smile, and he darts off at 100 km/h to make YOUR coffee (long, short, espresso, mochaccino) while he was already making a thousand others. In 3 seconds he already has YOUR favorite croissant in his hand, the water. “The usual?” You nod, smiling. A greeting glance to the regulars “of your hour.” Breakfast, you pay, you smile. If you have two minutes, you skim the newspaper while eating your croissant, because that’s just what you do, even if you already skimmed the news in a rush on the toilet on your phone. It’s a happy and friendly way to start the active part of the day. To feel like you’re part of your community. I love it — no vending machine or Starbucks can ever match it.

Re: Italy's longest-serving barista reflects on six decades behind the counter

#145

Post by random9749832 »

isoprophlex wrote: post #50

> I’ve seen generations grow up. Some grandparents come in with their grandkids and say, “Anna, remember the jukebox?” > Today, however, young people no longer come to the bar. They came when we had the dance floor and the music. Today, they like to spend time with the smartphone; they even take it to bed when they go to sleep. What are we losing, what are we taking away from life, now that we ourselves have become a…

Went to Japan recently and the young women take social media (particularly Instagram) to a whole nother level over there. They very clearly invest a lot of time and energy into getting the best photos. A lot of the young men just look defeated.

Re: Italy's longest-serving barista reflects on six decades behind the counter

#146

Post by UomoNeroNero »

sph wrote: post #103
spiritplumber wrote: post #79

This is very near my hometown (Nebbiuno; I am from Verbania). Lots of very old people here. The world's oldest lady used to be from Verbania, she died at 117. Northern Italy is less loud than southern Italy but it has a quiet beauty.

There's dozens of us from that neck of the woods! (I'm 30 km away from Lago Maggiore)

If you ever pass through Liguria, I can even treat you to a coffee. (But nothing more, eh! )

Re: Italy's longest-serving barista reflects on six decades behind the counter

#147

Post by random9749832 »

vasco wrote: post #63
isoprophlex wrote: post #50

> I’ve seen generations grow up. Some grandparents come in with their grandkids and say, “Anna, remember the jukebox?” > Today, however, young people no longer come to the bar. They came when we had the dance floor and the music. Today, they like to spend time with the smartphone; they even take it to bed when they go to sleep. What are we losing, what are we taking away from life, now that we ourselves have become a…

When ever in the history of the world were humans not exploited by other humans, in much worse ways than now? I'd rather be google's data source for ads than be someones actual slave for example. Also I don't really like these luddite sentiments, usually shared between the two extremes, old ladies that never used the internet so they don't understand what they are missing, and IT guys that are too jaded to see the be…

Did we really just bring up and contrast current exploitation to slavery as an attempt defend social media?

Re: Italy's longest-serving barista reflects on six decades behind the counter

#149

Post by Wololooo »

darkwater wrote: post #97
bigmealbigmeal wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not so confident. TV use was higher in the 2000s than it was in the 1980s/1990s. TV viewing hours steadily rose from 1949 until finally peaking in 2010.[1] But when TV finally peaked in 2010, did overall screen time go down? No. It kept going up.[2] Obviously, this is when the masses went all-in on smartphones, social media, and the internet. Screen usage basically never went down. It has only gone up. So I only…

You have a good point I overlooked, thanks for the correction. I actually missed the "TV was just displaced" angle, which makes sense both statistically and anecdotally, if I think about family and friends.

TV also had a social aspect that internet does not have by construction: You had the same program on only a few TV channels and this was funneling people to talk about similar things or have discussions about the previous day show.

These things rarely happen organically anymore unless "forced" in one way or the other...

Re: Italy's longest-serving barista reflects on six decades behind the counter

#150

Post by micheles »

sph wrote: post #71
jimbokun wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Working for a larger soul sucking corporation that long would be spiritually crushing. But serving your community coffee every day seems like a great way to stay involved in your community doing something useful.

It's the same reason you see barbers working well into their 70s. After a lifetime offering a service to your neighbourhood, cutting hair and having a chat, why would you even retire? Just to stare at a wall, useless and lonely?

My barber is 75+ and he says that he has no intention of ever retiring, until he is forced to by health reasons.
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