Welcome to the refreshed and renovated digital pamphlet.
After some consideration, I carefully drew the illos and put together the 286 or so banner images/headers/footers that this platform requires. I was feeling quite pleased about the Phresh Vibe I was lovingly compiling for this publication. As I sipped my tea, I looked at the very item in my hand and promptly realised I’ve just morphed this outfit into the specific aesthetic of the Melbourne hipster café merch staple: a diner mug.
One of my favourite of these diner mugs came from a place that, as of very recently, no longer exists. Under somewhat scandalous circumstances, Northside pillar All Are Welcome’s Northcote, Thornbury and East Ivanhoe sites swiftly shut its doors around the time it became public that they owed hundreds of thou$and$ in superannuation (401k to our international friends) contributions and leave entitlements to their staff. Which they’re legally required to provide.
The revelation of this and subsequent closure was sad news across the board; the food was excellent, it was a place where people loved to hang out and the staff were friendly. Every time you’d go past Northcote, it was teeming with all sorts of folks enjoying pastries once described to me by a French native as “better than the ones at home”.
This, of course, doesn’t excuse depriving employees of their hard earned money and legal entitlements. Once this all came out, newspaper coverage et al., there was strong condemnation of the owner. When you’re not meeting your legal obligations to your staff, that’s very fair and earned criticism. All Are Welcome, All Won’t Get Paid comments write themselves. Hospitality workers being screwed over by their employers is a tale as old as time. The community response was strong; the sense of being let down by a popular place presenting itself as caring was palpable.
But amongst the online pile on, something equally interesting was happening. Many of the staff were defending their former workplace and were relaying their support and gratitude for their time there. This was significant coming from the actual workers who are owed money from this business, the people with actual skin in the game.
Undoubtedly there isn’t one homogenous view amongst all AAW workers, but it’s worth noting that they must’ve been doing some things right for some to respond this way.
Even more curious, there were others (presumably customers) who were arguing with these statements. Rage about the situation makes sense. Customers have been supporting a business, and by extension its staff, to then find that it wasn’t operating the way we expect and hope people will choose to. What lies beneath anger 99% of the time, is sadness.
I’d be willing to bet most people are sad that a place they enjoyed patronising is gone and the people who made it great weren’t being looked after. What doesn’t make an awful lot of sense is directing that anger/sadness at the very people many were being outraged on behalf of.
Ironically, if we listened to people to understand instead of convert to our own view, we’d have a greater sense of community everywhere. We’d have more appreciation and connection, more of what people felt then lost through AAW.
Wage theft of any kind isn’t acceptable, to the point that there’s legislated protections in place to (preferably) prevent it. That speaks for itself. There were also workers who enjoyed being a part of AAW and were sorry to see it go. To tell people their own experiences were “incorrect” because of the employer’s failure seems to blur two different components together. Both can be true at the same time, even if it’s more complex for us to deal with.
It seems to be a microcosm of something broader, online or otherwise. There are aspects of this story that are at odds with each other, otherwise known as nuance. At a broader level, we don’t have much tolerance for that. When something like this happens, there is an undoubtedly strong urge to make the whole outfit all one thing or all another.
We’d all be a lot better off if we could reacquaint ourselves with nuance, and listen to perspectives that differ to our own. There are people who worked at AAW who have money owed to them that still supported the place - that may not be how I think I’d feel in that situation, but I don’t think people are wrong to feel that way.
It would also go a long way if, more broadly, we could break up with needing to be an “expert” across every event that comes into our awareness. Cafe patrons aren’t suddenly all employment lawyers or business owners (it’s a pretty lush demographic there could be a few) - but what they definitely are, are people who felt they belonged to something. We’d all be better off if we engaged from that, instead of looking to justify hurt through intellectualising.
There are, importantly, things that aren’t excusable. But I think it’s a mistake to condemn *most* human beings as all anything, because we all contain light and shade. Acknowledging this shouldn’t be confused for justifying bad behaviour, or used as a way to do that.
We want people to be mostly good, but dislike the process involved for shifts to be made when there’s room for improvement. There are definitely areas where more slack should be given than others. I think in an everyday sense, it’s a mistake to become too trigger happy when firing out complete and absolute condemnation forever.
I’m hopeful that we have the capability to be a society that can hold people to account, then be open enough to embrace meaningful making of amends and change when they happen.
May today’s thoughts remind you that we all absorb ideas and inspiration from our surroundings, even something as simple as a diner mug.
I have now indulged in Exhibit B. I think these slap a bit, to be perfectly frank.
