What about the "specialty coffee" rules that people sometimes gripe about—no iced espresso, sixteen ounce Americanos, etc.?

I don't think we have too many rules. We try to keep the menu simple, but we try to explain the reason so in the end the person can get something that's good. Sometimes people just want an espresso over ice so they can add a gallon of milk to it to make a cheap iced latte.

So that's the reason. I think we try to explain the things we don't do by highlighting the things we do do. Do you ever feel like you're part of something, like a movement of sorts?

I feel like between specialty coffeehouses and brunch spots of this generation, you guys are redefining the urban landscape a little bit. I wish I did. With a lot of the vendors that we sell to, I feel like that because most of them are small business owners and we can talk about common issues we share.

We can commiserate or complain. But I haven't really noticed a small business community that I'm aware of. There's a few online things that I've joined, but that's it really.

I don't really feel like there's much—maybe I'm just not ... more.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.