It’s not a street, it’s money!
Yesterday I was on my way to a training session in the city and I stopped off for a latte in a busy coffee shop. This particular coffee shop is at the end of a very busy building (the Queen Victoria Building) and on a street corner. It thus has entrances on both sides, creating an opportunity for impatient pedestrians to cut through. Doing so leads them past the take-away counter, where I was standing, waiting for my favourite hot beverage with another customer. It’s a narrow route, quite obviously part of the establishment and not a public thoroughfare.
A person then walked through, rather sheepishly, but intentionally; in one door and out the other, weaving between the few customers and staff in their path. Both the othe guy waiting and myself noticed this. The other guy saw the owner/manager of the coffee shop looking on and asked “does that happen often?”.
“All the time” replied the manager in a thick Italian-Australian accent.
“People try to walk through, saying ‘is it ok?’. I say, ‘sure mate, at least you ask’. Most of them don’t [even ask]”
“Is that right?” said the other customer, rather surprised.
The other staff nodded in agreement as the the manager said “It’s just rude…rude”.
“I say to them ‘it’s not a street, it’s money!’” he exclaimed whilst pointing both hands at the passageway.
We chuckled in agreement. His use of English might have been comical, but the manager summed up his frustration perfectly clearly with that last line.
About the author
Patrick Kennedy is a user experience strategist and design researcher based in Sydney Australia. He leads research activities that improve the user experience of cross-channel products and services; helping both designers and business decision makers in bringing those products and services to fruition. Read more.
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