Letter to the Editor

Put a lid on complaints

This is in response to Tristan Reed’s column “Put a lid on bad campus coffee” (Viewpoint, Jan. 18). As an employee at a coffeehouse on campus at UCLA, I find the article to be haughty and completely contradictory to the attitudes of our customers. First off, our customers do not leave immediately, as you claim.

Quite the opposite occurs; customers often stay for hours, studying and purchasing coffee on a daily basis. And while there is always room for improvement, we somehow manage to maintain a popular and often crowded on-campus spot. A variety of people support our business, including students, professors, businesspeople and celebrities.

In response to the comments about our “drab, blue-gray” gas station uniforms, the coffeehouse employees are all secure enough to maintain their individuality despite having to wear a uniform for their place of employment.

The desire for deep couches, into which one could “recline languorously,” leads me to believe that rather than a coffeehouse, the search should be for an apartment. Our purpose isn’t to promote afternoon naps but to provide an environment for study and interaction. Perhaps such a discriminating palette would be better suited to a five-star restaurant, which is not comparable to any coffeehouse.

Los Angeles isn’t exactly the land of Birkenstocks and bohemian ideals. I doubt that all UCLA students would share the author’s interior decorating views or quirky idiosyncrasies. It has been my experience in meeting other UCLA students that they are focused on academics rather than possessing a fixation on coffeehouses. Perhaps UC Berkeley would be better suited to fit your needs and philosophy.

We thank you, Reed, for your concern, but most people who are employed by or frequent these coffeehouses do indeed share a kinship.

Courtney LaKroix,

First-year, undeclared