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Suspended/pay it forward coffee

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  • 05-08-2015 7:50am
    #1
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭


    Is it just me who thinks it's cafés cynically exploiting hipsters who think they can tackle homelessness, latte by latte?

    Do these places charge full price for those drinks? Are they not just increasing their sales and marketing themselves on some fuzzy feel good factor?


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    #2
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 13,712 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    I'm sure it is as you describe, but I don't care if it benefits the shopowner. An action can be altruistic even if commercial benefit is one component.

    The cafe may not want to turn into a charity cafe: its owners have bills and wages to pay. They are just operating an extra service where they will facilitate donations to poor people.

    The end result is that some person on the street gets some warmth and comfort for a coin that you & I wouldn't miss if it fell into the gutter. I personally haven't see any such cafes, but I'd not dismiss the idea simply for fear that someone's business benefits. All the better if it does. We're all workers spinning the same big wheel.


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    #3
    OneOfThem
    Closed Accounts Posts: 667 ✭✭✭OneOfThem


    Homeless people fvcking love coffee.


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    #4
    Junkyard Tom
    Registered Users Posts: 10,117 ✭✭✭✭Junkyard Tom


    The guilt of consumerism for its own sake is assuaged by including an 'altruist' surcharge.

    This act of altruism, included in the price, allows the conscientious hipster to bang on about social issues and injustices while simultaneously engaging in an act of naked consumerism that might well be contributing to the very injustices he appears conscientious about.


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    #5
    strelok
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,162 ✭✭✭strelok


    buying coffee is consumerism for its own sake?

    i thought it was to get high on caffeine


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    #6
    Saipanne
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,882 ✭✭✭Saipanne


    OneOfThem wrote: »
    Homeless people fvcking love coffee.

    Such is their desire to remain lucid so that they can fully appreciate the gravity of their present circumstances.


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    #7
    john the one
    Registered Users Posts: 1,750 ✭✭✭john the one


    As long as people don't mind having a Starbucks next to a homeless person who may or may not have showered and worn fresh clothes, and as long as Starbucks etc don't mind serving them, what's the problem. Except for the fact that coffee shops will be overrun with homeless people waiting on free coffee!


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    #8
    NachoBusiness
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,389 ✭✭✭NachoBusiness


    Where can I.. sorry I mean, where can homeless people get these free cappuccinos?


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    #9
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    john the one wrote: »
    As long as people don't mind having a Starbucks next to a homeless person who may or may not have showered and worn fresh clothes, and as long as Starbucks etc don't mind serving them, what's the problem. Except for the fact that coffee shops will be overrun with homeless people waiting on free coffee!

    Does it not seem a bit like very cynical marketing exploiting middle class guilt to sell more product?

    If Dunnes encouraged customers to buy more clothes that they would give to the homeless, we'd surely say it was just Dunnes selling more clothes.


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    #10
    john the one
    Registered Users Posts: 1,750 ✭✭✭john the one


    [Deleted User] wrote: »
    Does it not seem a bit like very cynical marketing exploiting middle class guilt to sell more product?

    If Dunnes encouraged customers to buy more clothes that they would give to the homeless, we'd surely say it was just Dunnes selling more clothes.

    Don't think so. Most people want to go for a coffee as a break from society, not to smell the mean streets. I'd go as far as saying allowing paying it forward would be counter productive to business, this might sound shallow but I wouldn't go into the homeless coffee shop on Dublin's quays, would you? If the answer is no, then I rest my case


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    #11
    Saipanne
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,882 ✭✭✭Saipanne


    [Deleted User] wrote: »
    Does it not seem a bit like very cynical marketing exploiting middle class guilt to sell more product?

    If Dunnes encouraged customers to buy more clothes that they would give to the homeless, we'd surely say it was just Dunnes selling more clothes.

    I agree.


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    #12
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 0 ✭ [Deleted User]


    I'm assuming it's not just coffee, but any hot beverage? The OP might knock it, but a warm drink when you're outside on a cold day could make the difference so much.


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    #13
    kylith
    Registered Users Posts: 17,736 ✭✭✭✭kylith


    The only thing I'd be concerned about is, say 100 people 'pay it forward' and stand a cup of coffee for the homeless in a day. However only 3 homeless people come in asking for it. Therefore the coffee shop has been paid for 97 cups of coffee that they will never make and never give out (assuming they'd be honest enough to honour the request anyway). You may as well just give them a big bag of money for all the good it's doing.

    You're better off buying a coffee to hand to a homeless person yourself, or donating to a charity. If the 100 people donated the E3 (or however much) they were going to give Starbucks to the Simon Community instead much more good would be done.


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    #14
    Saipanne
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,882 ✭✭✭Saipanne


    kylith wrote: »
    The only thing I'd be concerned about is, say 100 people 'pay it forward' and stand a cup of coffee for the homeless in a day. However only 3 homeless people come in asking for it. Therefore the coffee shop has been paid for 97 cups of coffee that they will never make and never give out (assuming they'd be honest enough to honour the request anyway). You may as well just give them a big bag of money for all the good it's doing.

    You're better off buying a coffee to hand to a homeless person yourself, or donating to a charity. If the 100 people donated the E3 (or however much) they were going to give Starbucks to the Simon Community instead much more good would be done.

    Exactly right. But Simon isn't cool enough, for some people. They'd rather do their donating in hip surroundings, in front of a queue so everyone can see how truly awesome they are.


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    #15
    Junkyard Tom
    Registered Users Posts: 10,117 ✭✭✭✭Junkyard Tom


    kylith wrote: »
    You're better off buying a coffee to hand to a homeless person yourself

    Or better still, as you say, contributing to charities who've been aiding the homeless with nutritious soups or stews for decades.
    “Without the Soup Run, I would have starved; I’d probably be dead by now. It was the only way I had to get food.”

    'Ronan'

    simon.ie


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    #16
    Trent Houseboat
    Registered Users Posts: 1,116 ✭✭✭Trent Houseboat


    I had assumed that it wasn't a case of you buying a cup of coffee a homeless person calling in an hour later and collecting it. More that at the end of the day/week, the coffee shop passes on (presumably in the form of coffee and disposable cups) whatever has been "paid forward".


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    #17
    Trent Houseboat
    Registered Users Posts: 1,116 ✭✭✭Trent Houseboat


    My browser's having a meltdown currently and I cant find the edit button but I meant to say in my above post that the coffee shop passes on donations to the homeless charity of their choice.


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    #18
    aperocot
    Registered Users Posts: 49 ✭aperocot


    This is something I've read about but have never seen in action. It just sounds so unworkable to be honest. Probably a ploy from the Cafe Association.

    anyone ever seen one being purchased? Any comments on the looks of smugness on the face of the buyer? Anyone redeemed?


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