Carpe Diem has been in business for 31 years. Over those years Jane and Gussie have somehow attracted the attention of the naughty boys in the neighborhood. One year a seven-year-old from across the street thought it was fun to do batting practice with stones at our windows. That didn’t fly well with either Jane or Gussie. Jane, the natural disciplinarian of the two, marched over to the kid and brought him over to see the cracked window. The kid said it would be no problem, that his dad would pay to have it fixed. Jane argued that his dad didn’t do the damage so he should not have to make reparations. After a short negotiation Jane and the kid worked out a plan where the kid would come in after kindergarten and work off his debt. He came for several weeks and swept floors, and rolled coins, and generally neatened up such as a seven-year-old could. His mother was totally behind the plan. She may have enjoyed a few extra hours a week of less childcare.
Another young man used to visit us from across the street and engage Jane and Gussie in conversations about his improvements on or inventions for their coffee business. He often suggested flavor combinations which they would blend for him. He then would want to patent the blend. He still visits Carpe Diem. He has an entertaining manner of speech incorporating one overused turn of phrase after another. One would think he was well into his eighties, when asked, “how’s it going?”, he’d reply “Still standing. Another day another dollar”.
Carpe Diem uses the honor system for the public when getting themselves a cup of coffee. Basically, they have a tin with coins in it that people can make change when buying a cup of coffee. It has worked well for them…..most of the time. In their earlier years a young buck from around the block caught wind of this system and figured out that if he asked Jane or Gussie for something out of sight of the tin, he could reach in and help himself to a pocketful of change. It didn’t take Jane and Gussie long to figure it out, so they set a trap. They put a five-dollar bill in the tin and the next time old sticky fingers came in and ran his scam they checked the tin after his departure to find the fiver missing. THE DISIPLINARIAN grabbed Gussie and locking the door behind them headed around the block. Jane was determined to let the kid know he was caught. And as it turned out, his mother did too. As they were leaving the house his mother drove in the driveway and learned about her son’s activities. She handled it from there.
At some point, while still in the Commercial Block Building location, a young kid dressed in low shorts, wife beater undershirt, heavy chains, visor cocked to the side (serious bad boy garb), asked if they had any job openings. Pay it forward, right? So, they offered this kid a very part time job. They told him what the job would be, what the hours would be, what the pay would be and that punctuality was important. Not too long into the job he showed up late and stoned. He reeked of pot. He was told that was totally a violation of both their employment requirements and the law. He was fired. Jane, THE DISCIPLANARIAN, phoned his father. She was told he would take care of it. They never saw the boy again.
Jane and Gussie never had trouble with kids in the second location so for five years it was youth crime-free. When they relocated to their present location, where visibility is greater, they were revisited by the likes of another boy with sticky fingers. There is a viewing window from the lobby into the production area. As windows are useful looking in and out it was easy to watch Fagin (look it up) lift money. Jane would have nothing to do with that behavior. Once again, she confronted the boy about the dishonesty of stealing. She read him the riot act while Gussie watched from the other side of the window. The following week the boy and his mother showed up at Carpe Diem asking to see Jane. She went out and the boy gave her a handwritten letter (that is pinned to the bulletin board in the office), apologized in person and Gussie watched them hug it out.
The beauty of those exchanges over the years were the lessons it taught those boys, and Gussie.
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Carpe Diem has been in business for 31 years. Over those years Jane and Gussie have somehow attracted the attention of the naughty boys in the neighborhood. One year a seven-year-old from across the street thought it was fun to do batting practice with stones at our windows. That didn’t fly well with either Jane or Gussie. Jane, the natural disciplinarian of the two, marched over to the kid and brought him over to see the cracked window. The kid said it would be no problem, that his dad would pay to have it fixed. Jane argued that his dad didn’t do the damage so he should not have to make reparations. After a short negotiation Jane and the kid worked out a plan where the kid would come in after kindergarten and work off his debt. He came for several weeks and swept floors, and rolled coins, and generally neatened up such as a seven-year-old could. His mother was totally behind the plan. She may have enjoyed a few extra hours a week of less childcare.
Another young man used to visit us from across the street and engage Jane and Gussie in conversations about his improvements on or inventions for their coffee business. He often suggested flavor combinations which they would blend for him. He then would want to patent the blend. He still visits Carpe Diem. He has an entertaining manner of speech incorporating one overused turn of phrase after another. One would think he was well into his eighties, when asked, “how’s it going?”, he’d reply “Still standing. Another day another dollar”.
Carpe Diem uses the honor system for the public when getting themselves a cup of coffee. Basically, they have a tin with coins in it that people can make change when buying a cup of coffee. It has worked well for them…..most of the time. In their earlier years a young buck from around the block caught wind of this system and figured out that if he asked Jane or Gussie for something out of sight of the tin, he could reach in and help himself to a pocketful of change. It didn’t take Jane and Gussie long to figure it out, so they set a trap. They put a five-dollar bill in the tin and the next time old sticky fingers came in and ran his scam they checked the tin after his departure to find the fiver missing. THE DISIPLINARIAN grabbed Gussie and locking the door behind them headed around the block. Jane was determined to let the kid know he was caught. And as it turned out, his mother did too. As they were leaving the house his mother drove in the driveway and learned about her son’s activities. She handled it from there.
At some point, while still in the Commercial Block Building location, a young kid dressed in low shorts, wife beater undershirt, heavy chains, visor cocked to the side (serious bad boy garb), asked if they had any job openings. Pay it forward, right? So, they offered this kid a very part time job. They told him what the job would be, what the hours would be, what the pay would be and that punctuality was important. Not too long into the job he showed up late and stoned. He reeked of pot. He was told that was totally a violation of both their employment requirements and the law. He was fired. Jane, THE DISCIPLANARIAN, phoned his father. She was told he would take care of it. They never saw the boy again.
Jane and Gussie never had trouble with kids in the second location so for five years it was youth crime-free. When they relocated to their present location, where visibility is greater, they were revisited by the likes of another boy with sticky fingers. There is a viewing window from the lobby into the production area. As windows are useful looking in and out it was easy to watch Fagin (look it up) lift money. Jane would have nothing to do with that behavior. Once again, she confronted the boy about the dishonesty of stealing. She read him the riot act while Gussie watched from the other side of the window. The following week the boy and his mother showed up at Carpe Diem asking to see Jane. She went out and the boy gave her a handwritten letter (that is pinned to the bulletin board in the office), apologized in person and Gussie watched them hug it out.
The beauty of those exchanges over the years were the lessons it taught those boys, and Gussie.