Comments on: Sometimes, It’s Not Who You Know, But Who You’ve Yet To Meet

By: Jason Simon

Jason Simon — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:40:05 +0000

@Melinda It’s funny you mention “free mobiles” in relation to “place makers.” Joe introduced me to this concept a few weeks ago. Also, I did an “unemployed” search on Meetup and found 271 related meetups nationwide. I presume that some are more active than others.

@Joe You make a good point that unemployed and underemployed people may not be able to help people in a similar situation find a job. However, if they have different skill-sets, they’ll probably be looking for different types of jobs. Also, they may have interviews pending etc, and simply want to chat with other people in a similar position, as you mention.

The question I didn’t ask though is whether or not coffee shops would be open to having more unemployed in their place, allowing career counselors to host a conversation. I do think that most would be OK as long as coffee and snacks are being purchased.

@Manisha Thakor Do you think career counselors and financial planners etc. would be interested in hosting conversations like this from time to time? Maybe, the coffee shop or third party organization supporting these conversations would pay for the time committed?

By: Manisha Thakor

Manisha Thakor — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:34:06 +0000

Jason – Bravo, what a delightfully thought-provoking piece. Having just returned home from a marathon stay at a cafe where, outside of ordering several lattes, I said maybe 10 words in 5 hours… your points are well taken. Here’s to looking up from the screen a bit more often and remembering that a caffeinated conversation truly is one of life’s precious delights.

By: Melinda Blau

Melinda Blau — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 00:23:03 +0000

Joe, funny: I almost used a POW story in Consequential Strangers. No Max Frankel’s but a book written by a Canadian sociologist, Jonathan Vance, whom I also interviewed. I had almost forgotten. I’ve also heard that meetups of unemployed people are using coffee shops for that purpose.

By: Dustin Hinton

Dustin Hinton — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 21:43:43 +0000

Great post…keep it up

By: Joe McCarthy

Joe McCarthy — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:57:42 +0000

I like your synthesis of some interesting trends evolving in and around coffee shops. In a society where one’s identity is closely associated – if not fused – with one’s profession, when one becomes unemployed, there is often a loss of identity and self-esteem … or, as I once heard it put, “when you are what you do, when you don’t, you’re not”. People with low self-esteem often find it more difficult to initiate conversations, or to participate in any kind of socializing. Given the importance of networking, especially among weak ties, in finding a job, this can create a downward spiral.

That said, if coffeeshops are increasingly populated by unemployed or underemployed people, I’m not sure the people one might meet there would really be able to help one find a job … but striking up a conversation with another un[der]employed person may at least help one feel less lonely, isolated or different. And, just as prisoners in POW or concentration camps have been known to offer others hope and courage during particularly stressful circumstances (I’m thinking of Victor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning”), perhaps a similar effect may be found among the un[der]employed in coffeeshops.

By: Melinda Blau

Melinda Blau — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:42:04 +0000

Jason, as always you make some great observations and suggestions. Here’s a relevant tidbit that I discovered in the research of Keith Hampton who found that in wi-fe cafes there are two types of visitors: “free mobiles,” who essentially use the coffee shop as an office and have no interest in socializing, and “place makers,” for whom a computer or hand held device is more of a prop, inviting conversation. They go to a cafe with the goal of socializing–and aroudn half turn strangers into acquaintances–consequential strangers. Free mobiles almost never do. When you get to Chapter Five you’ll find all that and more of what you always write about. The fact is, we can’t separate “place” from “relationship.” Warm, inviting, safe places–”being spaces,” as I call them in the book–encourage conversation. Coffee shops are top on the list.