I am sitting at the Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting Company freezing my butt off. It is so cold in here people are wearing their coats. If you go up and ask them to close the front door they say they can't because of some sort of law or ordinance--not terribly customer friendly.
But their coffee tastes swell. I'm swigging down their House blend and have enjoyed their Steve's Smooth French twice in the past.
I am sitting here lamenting about the closing of Borders Santa Cruz. After talking with one of their employees last night, I learned that they were given no warning about the closing, and are not receiving any severance pay. "G", the man I spoke with, has worked for Borders Santa Cruz since it opened 12 years ago, he said. Yet he did not seem the least bit bitter, and minimally sad. He said that up until the last couple years, Borders' was a great company to work for--treated their employees well.
I drop by the closing sale every couple days feeling a bit guilty. First, I feel like a bit of a vulture looking for great sale prices because of their closing. Second, I feel bad about having come here so often and not buying anything. "G" reassured me that the store was probably bound to close anyway, despite my history of sitting in the cafe for hours on end, surfing the internet while sipping a two dollar Izzi. Bookstores everywhere, he said, are going out of business because of the online availability of books and the recent trending of e-book readers and e-books.
Because it was one of my major hangouts here in Santa Cruz, I must begin to find a replacement hangout. During that conversation, I learned that Borders in San Jose's Santana Row shopping district is also closing and I felt a twinge of sadness. It was my haven during my bout with San Jose homelessness at the end of 2009. I spent many hours at that store reaping the benefits of their cool coffee klatsch environment.
