UNIT 2: HOME AND NEIGHBORHOOD
My name‿ is Nina. I have been‿ a regular‿ at the same cafe for seven years,│ during which three other‿ establishments have‿ opened‿ an(d) closed‿ on the same street,│ an(d) the distinguishing feature was never the food.
What the surviving cafe‿ offers‿ is consistency and‿ atmosphere:│ identical staff,│ identical coffee,│ an(d) somebody│ who remembers your name. Its margins‿ are slender,│ its menu is short,│ and‿ it‿ is resolutely unfashionable. The establishments that failed were betterbe-der decorated‿ an(d) louder‿ on social media,│ an(d) their reputation rested‿ upon‿ a handful‿ of photographs rather than‿ upon word‿ of mouth. One‿ altered‿ its menu monthly,│ which delights‿ a reviewer‿ and‿ exhausts‿ anyone│ who desires‿ a regular breakfast;│ the lesson concerns generic‿ appeal,│ and‿ it‿ is not the lesson the industry customarily draws.
What customers rarely observe‿ is the economics. Hospitality operates‿ on narrow margins,│ staff‿ attrition‿ is high│ because wages‿ are low an(d) the hours‿ antisocial,│ an(d) the quality that survives‿ is generally sustained by a handful‿ of people paid considerably less than they deserve. When my pasta arrived‿ undercooked las(t) month,│ I complained,│ an(d) the manager compensated‿ us with‿ a desser(t) he was‿ under no obligation to provide,│ which struck me as both benevolent‿ and‿ unnecessary. It‿ occurred to me that‿ a complaint‿ is discretionary information,│ freely offered. An‿ establishmen(t) that treats‿ it‿ as‿ a threat will‿ acquire the reputation‿ it deserves,│ though it will never be told│ so to its face.