Cafe Gratitude? Crappy Attitude!
September 18, 2007

I once ate a declarative lunch at Cafe Gratitude. I had the "I Am Divine" carrot soup, the "I Am Eternally Blessed" coffee milkshake, and shared the "We Are Bountiful" sampler plate. And after ingesting all that affirmation, what did I think? Meh. It was okay. It wasn't bad, it wasn't amazing. It was fine.

However, after reading about Sam's friend Enidd, I'd like to put in a large order for "I Am Disgusted" with a side of "I Am Eternally Never Going There Again."

From Becks and Posh:

My friend Enidd sat at a table, alone, in Cafe Gratitude, quietly crying. She and her husband had just been violently mugged, nearby, in San Francisco's Mission District. Left with no money, no credit cards, no phones and no engagement ring, they dived into Cafe Gratitude to seek help. Whilst Enidd's husband made a call to the police on a cell phone provided by a kindly customer, Enidd sat and waited.

Not one member of Cafe Gratitude's staff did anything at all.

Disgusted yet? No? You think we live in an evil, evil world that just gets eviler by the day, so why should you be surprised by any amount of asshattery? Fine, but when there's a place in shiny, happy San Francisco that claims to be:

[A]n experiment in sacred commerce, the merging of the sacred with the commercial. This is means that everyone wins; the employees, the customer, mangers, local farmers, people's health, our planet, and the world environment. We train our employees to practice that we are all one and that they are the source of their life experience in life. By choosing to work at Café Gratitude our employees have not only chosen to serve others, but have chosen to take on being that life is great now. They have chosen to take on bringing this view of life to their family and community.

you'd think they of all places could spare a cheap bag of tea and a splash of hot water to soothe the victims' nerves.

I guess in Cafe Gratitude's minds "sacred commerce" doesn't really merge with "the milk of human kindness." Maybe they should look into putting that on their menu.

9.22.07 Email received from Cafe Gratitude (reprinted with permission):

Hello,

Someone brought me a print out of your Grub Report today and I want to share with you. I am grateful that you have a contact opportunity on your site. Thank you.

I appreciate you sharing your experience, of course as an owner of Cafe Gratitude I wish you had contacted us first, so that we could have a conversation, take responsibility and grow from this experience, however this will work too.

Yes, we put out in the world just what you wrote, and we do think we do a good job of living into our mission, however it seems based on what you shared about your friend Enidd and her husband that we overlooked them in a time of need. We apologize for that. We do honestly attempt to reach out to people and to conduct our business in a conscious caring manner, offering not only food that heals but also an experience that does that as well.

It would be wonderful to use this experience as a training opportunity for our staff. Do you know when this happened, at what time? That would be most helpful in addressing the issue. Do you know if Enidd made any requests? Did she let anyone know she needed help or support?

Again thank you for this opportunity and for your dedication to your friends, I can hear your upset and again apologize for leaving them with anything other than an experience of community.

Much gratitude,
Terces Engelhart
Cafe Gratitude, owner

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