3 places in new york i boycott for solely personal reasons... along with general usage of plastic bags...
just got back from this cafe called lotus on clinton and stanton... and i have a feeling that i won't be going back there possibly ever in my life...
well, if you know me personally, you'd know i do have quick temper... not all the time and i have to admit i've mellowed out quite a bit in recent years but still i do get pissed easily... i do get over quickly too... so over last 6 and a half years i've been living in new york, i've had my shares of run-in's in different places... and i know that sometimes i'm being over sensitive in a way but then, so what... so the following three places that i boycott including lotus from today and the reasons why... then maybe you can tell me if i'm being over sensitive... and i'm sure there are some other places i'm leaving out...
1. galapagos in williamsburg
yes, i know some of you know love that place... and that artificial pool is nice indeed... looked great in coffee and cigarettes... still...
it was probably 5 years ago or so... i was scheduled to play in this feminist art crap thing with two other female musician... it was sometime in winter and was snowing... and it's no fun to walk around in snow with my cello, believe me... anyway the gig was supposed to start at 8 and i got there around 7, i believe... well, when i got there, i was told that galapagos had double booked that night and the even i was in was postponed until 11 or so... well, i was annoyed and cold... but since going back to manhattan then coming back would have been too much of schlep so decided to stick around... so finally started playing around midnight and i knew that what we were doing was too out for them... it was a some kind of variety show of pretentious artsy shit but what could i do, other than playing my cello the way i do... so after about playing 15 minutes, this guy robert who fucking owns galapagos walked up on the stage while music was going on, not even in between tunes, not joking, and told me "this is your last song"... what the fuck... i told him to fuck off... i knew that he was worried that our music was driving drinking crowd away... and he had nerve to come up to the stage while we were playing...? since then i've never been near that fucking place... not putting down the shows/musicians/artists involved with galapagos by any means but i do hate that owner with passion...!!!
2. david's bagel on 1st avenue right below east 14th street...
i used to go there quite a bit since their bagels are pretty damn good... it's owned by thai people...? but trust me, their bagels are great... i think at least once a week for 3-4 years i went to that place for quick lunch... however, think it was sometime last year i went to get a bagel there, it happened... a little bit before that i noticed that there was this one new girl who was not that friendly... and you know, that's ok with me because i'm not always the most friendly person either... anyway she was always a bit grumpy and loud... well, that day, when i was paying for the bagel, she was in front of cash register... bad idea... well, she told me something like $2.18, let's say, and i handed her exact change... then she screamed "$2.80!!!" at my face... i was so shocked that she was yelling at me so loud, began to look for more changes... then i realized that she shouldn't have been yelling at me like that... it could have been her accent and it could have been my hearing but why was she yelling at me...? so i told her that she didn't have to be so rude to a customer... but her response was like "i don't know what you are talking about..." i wasn't expecting her to smile at me just because because i was a customer but at least have some etiquette... so since then i never went back there... although i do miss their bagels but i cannot risk of being yelled at again... thank god they opened another branch on the 1st avenue and 22nd street... it's kind of out of my way but if that's the only way to have their bagel, why not...
3. lotus cafe on clinton and stanton...
ok, this incident i had about 45 minutes ago is the reason why i'm writing this blog... kind of stupid, i admit... but they pissed me off... i go there quite often in the morning to get a cup of tea and bagel... it's very close to my house and they are usually very nice... and they even have free wifi which is a bonus...
then today i was sitting on a larger table where electricity outlets are next to... however when i sat down they were all taken and i had to wait for someone to leave... so this woman sitting in front of me finally left and i was able to hook up my computer to power... as soon as i did that, some guy came up to me and asked me if i could move somewhere since there will be group of 5 people coming in... and i told him sorry but i had to use the power outlet... and on top of that there were other tables on the other side of the room too... then a minute later this manager guy came to me and said that i HAD to move from the table since they cannot LET me use the entire table by myself... if this guy asked me nicely, that's one thing but TELLING me that i HAD to move...?!?! i do believe that no one should do anything if they don't want to... and i never agreed on any term when i went to the cafe... and how about the fact i was there before and i do go there quite a bit... i was shocked that this guy didn't think that was out of his line ordering me like that...! so i'm never going back to that joint...
ah, it might be just me making my life harder than necessary but then that's how i deal with things... seriously, am i being just too sensitive...? well, if you say yes, it's still not going to change anything... sorry...
well, if you know me personally, you'd know i do have quick temper... not all the time and i have to admit i've mellowed out quite a bit in recent years but still i do get pissed easily... i do get over quickly too... so over last 6 and a half years i've been living in new york, i've had my shares of run-in's in different places... and i know that sometimes i'm being over sensitive in a way but then, so what... so the following three places that i boycott including lotus from today and the reasons why... then maybe you can tell me if i'm being over sensitive... and i'm sure there are some other places i'm leaving out...
1. galapagos in williamsburg
yes, i know some of you know love that place... and that artificial pool is nice indeed... looked great in coffee and cigarettes... still...
it was probably 5 years ago or so... i was scheduled to play in this feminist art crap thing with two other female musician... it was sometime in winter and was snowing... and it's no fun to walk around in snow with my cello, believe me... anyway the gig was supposed to start at 8 and i got there around 7, i believe... well, when i got there, i was told that galapagos had double booked that night and the even i was in was postponed until 11 or so... well, i was annoyed and cold... but since going back to manhattan then coming back would have been too much of schlep so decided to stick around... so finally started playing around midnight and i knew that what we were doing was too out for them... it was a some kind of variety show of pretentious artsy shit but what could i do, other than playing my cello the way i do... so after about playing 15 minutes, this guy robert who fucking owns galapagos walked up on the stage while music was going on, not even in between tunes, not joking, and told me "this is your last song"... what the fuck... i told him to fuck off... i knew that he was worried that our music was driving drinking crowd away... and he had nerve to come up to the stage while we were playing...? since then i've never been near that fucking place... not putting down the shows/musicians/artists involved with galapagos by any means but i do hate that owner with passion...!!!
2. david's bagel on 1st avenue right below east 14th street...
i used to go there quite a bit since their bagels are pretty damn good... it's owned by thai people...? but trust me, their bagels are great... i think at least once a week for 3-4 years i went to that place for quick lunch... however, think it was sometime last year i went to get a bagel there, it happened... a little bit before that i noticed that there was this one new girl who was not that friendly... and you know, that's ok with me because i'm not always the most friendly person either... anyway she was always a bit grumpy and loud... well, that day, when i was paying for the bagel, she was in front of cash register... bad idea... well, she told me something like $2.18, let's say, and i handed her exact change... then she screamed "$2.80!!!" at my face... i was so shocked that she was yelling at me so loud, began to look for more changes... then i realized that she shouldn't have been yelling at me like that... it could have been her accent and it could have been my hearing but why was she yelling at me...? so i told her that she didn't have to be so rude to a customer... but her response was like "i don't know what you are talking about..." i wasn't expecting her to smile at me just because because i was a customer but at least have some etiquette... so since then i never went back there... although i do miss their bagels but i cannot risk of being yelled at again... thank god they opened another branch on the 1st avenue and 22nd street... it's kind of out of my way but if that's the only way to have their bagel, why not...
3. lotus cafe on clinton and stanton...
ok, this incident i had about 45 minutes ago is the reason why i'm writing this blog... kind of stupid, i admit... but they pissed me off... i go there quite often in the morning to get a cup of tea and bagel... it's very close to my house and they are usually very nice... and they even have free wifi which is a bonus...
then today i was sitting on a larger table where electricity outlets are next to... however when i sat down they were all taken and i had to wait for someone to leave... so this woman sitting in front of me finally left and i was able to hook up my computer to power... as soon as i did that, some guy came up to me and asked me if i could move somewhere since there will be group of 5 people coming in... and i told him sorry but i had to use the power outlet... and on top of that there were other tables on the other side of the room too... then a minute later this manager guy came to me and said that i HAD to move from the table since they cannot LET me use the entire table by myself... if this guy asked me nicely, that's one thing but TELLING me that i HAD to move...?!?! i do believe that no one should do anything if they don't want to... and i never agreed on any term when i went to the cafe... and how about the fact i was there before and i do go there quite a bit... i was shocked that this guy didn't think that was out of his line ordering me like that...! so i'm never going back to that joint...
ah, it might be just me making my life harder than necessary but then that's how i deal with things... seriously, am i being just too sensitive...? well, if you say yes, it's still not going to change anything... sorry...
posted by okkyung at 2:15 PM
2 Comments:
Haha! I like this Okkyung atittude! I believe that's the same thing that makes your music so full of character! Not being sarcastic here, it's a compliment. :)
Happy New Year Okkyung!
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