Okay, so at first I was like "Where the %$#& is your menu and why don't you list the prices of your pastries?" I was also a bit pissed they had no signage informing you that it's a CASH ONLY coffee shop (luckily RBC has a branch two blocks away, or you can use the ATM in their basement). Then I was a bit confused as to why they also don't believe in providing any sort of trash receptacle. By the time I took my seat I realized I was having a full on hipster establishment experience -sort of like that episode in Girls where Ray's coffee shop competition is this cafe across the street that doesn't provide lids for their coffee cups and everyone's gender is up for debate.
My initial instinct was to fight my surroundings, but then I let down my defenses and opened myself up to the philosophical and informed energies of my fellow cafe dwellers. To my left sat an urban planner developing what appeared to be the design for a parking structure and surrounding buildings. To my right sat a masters student working on a thesis on the modern day role of women in informing policy. I suddenly found myself caring more about the human experience and connecting to a part of myself that I had previously murdered in my attempt to pay rent and splurge on expensive clothing. Maybe instead of selling my soul in the name of corporate profit, I should be pursuing some sort of journalistic mission and ending my support of multinational conglomerates like Starbucks?
So basically I come here now whenever I feel an existential crisis coming on and I make sure to come fully prepared with adequate coinage.