Communist Cafe?
As you can read in previous posts , our family was on a small trip to Kassel a while ago. There we made a small visit to a collective cafe called Kurbad Jungborn .
The service was... ehh.. in its own time, you could say. But ("Spela roll gummiboll" does not translate good to english: "play around rubber balls"?) sooo but whatever. We were in no rush and saw no reason to bother with it. We enjoyed our break.
The black filter coffee was something of a wonder to find in itself, but it was really the pricing that made me raise my eyebrows.
Student discount is something we are used to. Everyone knows that students need every penny for beer, and therefore they often get a slightly smaller price tag in many places. It was the same here.. sort of. Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture of the menu or their description, but against all odds I managed to find a picture online anyway (as I said, the Germans are not known for their digitization). Those who pay attention can see the "Ermäßigt " and "Normal " prices. I don't need to translate normal for anyone, I think. But "Ermäßigt " means "Reduced ". Now you don't have to google that.
In the lacking of my knowledge, I personally assumed these were sizes. Pretty educated guess I thought. Smaller and normal. But of course that was not the case, but as I hinted at earlier, these are prices.
The menu also had a text that described the years that have been with COVID, increased energy, gasoline and food prices in addition to everything else that has also gone up in price. They saw the matter as that everyone has different conditions to cope with everyday life, but they still wanted - to the best of their ability - to give people the opportunity to still enjoy life.
They also described that it was really at the limit of what they can do and for them to actually go around, you have to pay the normal price.
I think this concept is wonderful. " This is the cost. But if you need to, you can pay this lower price instead." Honestly, I would have liked to see a third price as well. "You whom can afford a little more, feel free to pay this." Rich Together - Jan (Swedish economy podcaster) is always nagging about that people have misunderstood friend prices. It should be the other way around, friends should support and thus pay more (if they can).
This is also different from the tipping principle where you somehow have to judge both food, atmosphere and service in one... and then judge what the waiter should get for salary?
However, it will always be difficult. If you were given the choice between paying a lot or a little, which would you choose? Now we may only be talking a few cents to the penny, more or less when it comes to a cup of coffee or two. But there are also real "anti-capitalist" companies that have tried the "pay what you want" principle. This example in toronto that had to shut down after a year.
There need to be boundaries and guidelines. There are many examples of eateries where you can buy two meals where meal or coffee no. 2 is saved for someone who needs it. Also nice.
I'm also far from a communist, but I think you should try to do what you can for those who need it. However, I often find it difficult to assess who actually needs it.
Otherwise, on the whole, the café had a simple layout with used chairs and tables, half-worn and hammered benches or those classic EU stools with (sometimes) something soft to sit on. I don't understand why everything has to be the latest and greatest as long as it works.
In addition to this, the café also had a wardrobe library. So a place where you could borrow and leave clothes. Nice concept, I think so.
Therefore, I think that the place itself had a nice mentality that gave the opportunity, but did not assume or pressure. Five out of five toasters.
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