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You may be asking yourself, “Why would I want to spend my free time in a town that is so perfect when I’m not?” Well, my answer to that question is Slave to the Grind, duh! Some of you now might be saying, “What the heck is Slave to the Grind?” So, I’m going to tell you all about it, trying not to leave out any details. Slave to the Grind was Bronxville’s first and only coffee shop until about ten years ago when Starbucks opened a store around the corner.

To help find out some of the history of Slave I approached one of the employees with a few questions. I was lucky enough to approach the right employee, Kyle Marshall. He is the son of Slave’s founders, Andrew and Carol Marshall. The Marshall’s established Slave in 1993 when they moved to Bronxville. The owners chose the store’s name to back up a sign hung behind the counter before “Death before Dishonor. Nothing Before Coffee.” Or in other words, their lives revolve around coffee therefore they are Slaves to the Grind.

In the fifteen years that Slave has been around the only problem they have had to overcome was the establishment of the Starbucks around the corner, but that doesn’t seem to have had any effect on Slave’s business. When questioned by the New York Times about his concerns about the Starbucks opening Andrew Marshall said, “Bronxville is not a big place, but I feel I’ve got an established clientele. I can only hope that it won’t hurt my business.” He then went on to say that “he had worked hard to establish a good relationship with Sarah Lawrence and its students and did not believe the new Starbucks would jeopardize that. He also said he believed he might actually benefit by its presence.”

The first time I came to Slave, I couldn’t believe where I was. I was shocked to find such an unusual place in Bronxville’s perfect town. There were just so many different types of people with so many imperfections, I began to wonder. Why would this perfect town allow such an imperfect and unconventional coffee shop to open? Despite my thinking, the locals of Bronxville love the shop. It has brought character to the town in a fashionable manor as they might say. Slave has won many awards including Best Coffee 2004 and 2005, Best Latte 2004, and Best coffee house 2003, all from Westchester Magazine.

From the outside Slave looks just like every other shop on the street. There is a quaint bench on the outside that is shaded by the forest green awning that identifies the shop. But don’t let the outside appearance fool you; the second you walk inside, you enter an entirely different world from the one outside its doors. What is so different about Slave that makes it another world? Well, I’ll start by saying that it definitely does not fit into the utopian setting that Bronxville has. As you walk in the first thing you will probably notice is that none of the furniture matches. Every other table has a different design inscribed in it and each chair at those tables has its own look and personality. The walls are covered with vintage pictures of coffee and they have nailed old coffee grinders and pots to the wall. The corner of the ceiling is lined with an ugly air duct pipe that the staff have managed to turn into a piece of art by putting hundreds of magnets on it giving the place even more character. There is a mural on the back wall called “the tree of thanks” that is dedicated to Slave’s customers who have supported it over the years.

Just like most coffee shops, Slave has its regulars. The regulars are not just one type of people and they are not defined by age or occupation. They’re just the regulars. The morning regulars come in grab a cup of coffee, the paper, and relax before their hectic day begins. The afternoon regulars are often college students who drop by to read a few chapters of a book or write a paper as well as moms from the town who meet to catch up on the local gossip of the neighborhood. There are also the evening regulars. Every night around nine o’clock the same group of people meet at Slave to battle their wars, I don’t mean a real war of course instead I mean the war on the chess board. Towards the back the tables have chess/checker boards imprinted in them. But, if you want to play a game of chess, good luck rumbling through the box of pieces to find ones that match; I guarantee you won’t be able to get a matching set. Your court has to be unique, just as unique as the shop you’re playing in.

Even the coffee bar at Slave has its own uniqueness. It’s covered with a rooftop that has stained glass for shingles and wood paneling as siding. Instead of having a typical coffee menu that is posted far back behind the counter like other coffee shops such as Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts, Slave’s coffee menu is written on chalkboards that hang from the ceiling directly above the counter making it easy for everyone to see and read. The right side of the counter is lined with eight coffee dispensers that contain the specialty coffees of the day and the opposite wall is covered with coffee bean dispensers that contain about 50 different coffee flavors. I haven’t tried all 50 flavors, but the ones that I have are fantastic. Snicker doodle is my favorite.

If you’re not a coffee drinker don’t fret, Slave has other beverages that are just as amazing as their coffee. One of Slave’s biggest sellers is its hot chocolate. When I first tasted it I thought they had bottled up a piece of heaven, added some chocolate, and topped it off with whipped cream. In other words, their hot chocolate is to die for. Don’t like hot chocolate? Slave even has fruit smoothies and the basic bottled water and sodas. Slave also has an assorted variety of snacks, both healthy and unhealthy. If you have a sweet tooth you can go for one of their yummy muffins or cakes, but if you’re a health nut you can also grab a piece of fruit or a non-fat yogurt.

What’s even better about Slave is that a cup of coffee or a snack isn’t going to cost you an arm and a leg. A large coffee runs at about three dollars which I think is pretty fair when compared to Starbucks where a large coffee costs you around the same amount, maybe a little more. Even better again, refills on the daily specials are 50 cents off per cup.

The staff always welcomes you with a smile, even if they are totally overwhelmed with customers. Their personalities are great; they are always interested in having a conversation with you and constantly wanting to instill their knowledge of random things upon you. They never fail to ask how you’re doing and how your day is going. The conversations you have with them can range from your basic everyday topics to the most random things you have ever heard of. My favorite conversation with one of the staff members was about an enormous chess set that he was planning on making by melting and molding random pieces of aluminum and iron that he gathered. I can’t think of any other place that you can have a conversation like that.

It seems obvious that Slave has a lot going for it; great coffee, staff, location, and atmosphere. Makes me think that this place is too good to be true. For some people this place isn’t as great as described. There are some who feel very uncomfortable here. One reason that I think people may feel that way about the place is because it is not a traditional coffee shop that most people are used to. It has a very unique and unconventional atmosphere that is calming but can be overwhelming for some people. I can relate to those who feel uncomfortable with Slave’s atmosphere because often time’s things that are unconventional or different are very hard to accept due to the belief that there is a defined norm in society. Those who have thought about a defined norm have probably come to the realization that there is no normal in society. But, for those who haven’t thought about a defined norm, the idea of breaking norm is unheard-of and when they are faced with something out of their norm, such as an unconventional coffee shop, they will naturally feel uncomfortable.

Another reason some may not like Slave is because of the college students from Sarah Lawrence who visit the shop on a nightly basis. You can always count on them lingering outside drinking their coffee and smoking their cigarettes. It’s easy to see how they can manage to make some feel uncomfortable and intimidated. Although that may be the case, once you come inside you don’t have to worry about them. They rarely come inside unless they want more coffee or need to use the restroom, and they are quick to go back outside to their friends. Andrew Marshall has also taken this issue into consideration by posting a hand-written message inside the store titled “Please Be Considerate” that clearly states that the regulars must behave themselves i.e., watch their language, be polite to passersby, and clean up after themselves both inside and outside the store. He then says that “if Slave becomes unwelcome in the community, we all lose! None of us want problems. Especially stupid avoidable ones. Slave regulars are good people! -Andy”

To sum it all up, as long as you’re not afraid to break the norm then it doesn’t matter if you’re a slave to perfection, a slave to the soccer field, a slave to the library, a slave to shopping, or a slave to reading after one visit to this coffee house you will most surely become a “slave to the grind!’

Works Cited

www.westchestermagazine.com

(http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DEFDF133FF933A05753C1A962958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all)

pictures are self taken

            Unfortunately, he was very quiet and despite the fact that the school was very small I never really had the opportunity to get to know him at all. Turns out he had this incredible, passionate, love for music that I had no idea of. A few months ago I came across his facebook.com and began talking to him occasionally through messages, just trying to get re-associated with people I knew from back home. We didn’t talk about much just school and how much we each hated all the work we had to do. Our conversations gradually became less and less until he invited me to join this group on facebook.com. The group was to promote this up and coming DJ/producer called DJ Nuwave. I’d never heard of him but I decided to join not even looking into the information about the group.

            In past weeks I kept seeing his status on facebook.com talking about DJ Nuwave but I never really paid much attention to it because I just thought it was one of those annoying club promotion ads. The other day I started up another conversation with him just to see how life was going for him, you know the usual I’m bored and need someone to talk to conversation. He told me life was going good and that he’d just made his fifth album and that he had produced a song for an up and coming artist called Mishon that is soon to be played on the radio. Then it clicked to me, was he and that DJ in the group the same person? Little did I know that DJ Nuwave was that same quiet boy I played kickball with at recess. I tell you, it’s always the quiet ones who make it big.

 I’ve always heard that famous DJs and producers get their start at a young age. Most of them struggle from high school into their twenties just to get a record deal with some small time rapper or performer. I just never thought that I’d know someone like that.

He sent me a copy of the song that is going to be on the radio but I don’t want to put it up incase of copyright issues. Here is a video from youtube.com that has one of his mixes as background music. I hope you enjoy it!

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            Personally, I think that this idea is brilliant, especially because it is not discriminating against any particular group of people but instead it is available to everyone. I’ve heard of cases where people have been in serious accidents leaving them unconscious, unable to communicate with the doctors who are treating them and those doctors are unable to get in touch with family members who may know important information about the patient’s medical conditions. In cases like this obviously the doctor is still obligated to treat the patient even though they do not know much about the patient’s health. For example, some of these patients may need to be treated for infection due to their wounds. So, the doctor treats them with Penicillin and a few hours later the patient forms a rash and has trouble breathing due to an allergic reaction from the medication.   This situation could have been prevented if the patient had a medical information card.

            Ideas like this one have been proposed many times but have been voted against because some believe that it is an invasion of their privacy and civil liberties, which is an entirely different moral issue. I can see why they may argue that but I also have to admit that if I was in an emergency situation like the ones I mentioned before I would definitely want my doctor to know all of my medical history.

My case begins with, Carla, the owner of Better being approached by Frances, her employee’s ex-wife. Frances asks to speak with Carla and tells her that Tom, her ex-husband, has AIDS. Carla is taken back by this remark and is unsure of how it should be handled, if at all. As Carla began to think about the idea of Tom having AIDS she considers the possibility and notices that Tom has gotten thinner and been more tired than usual.

            Carla is unsure if she should approach Tom about the accusation or leave it alone, because it is none of her business. Therefore she should just let him continue with his work as normal at the store. Then she realizes that maybe it is her business. A few months prior she had heard some of her customers talk about the local Denny’s and how one of their cooks was infected with AIDS so they now refused to eat at their restaurant. The Denny’s tried to fire the cook but a local AIDS support group intervened and the cook was able to keep his job. Of course Carla didn’t want a similar situation to occur at her bagel shop.

            Carla knew it was illegal to fire Tom because he had AIDS so she began to think of ways to resolve the situation. She knew she couldn’t just eliminate the situation like some other businesses do by asking Tom to leave but still keeping him on the payroll. After all that would make him lose his self worth as a human and as an employee.

Then there was the question of Tom’s future work performance at the store. After some time the AIDS virus will make him less capable of doing everyday tasks.

            The article does not tell us how Carla handled the situation but we do know that Tom was able to keep his job at Better Bagels. In the end it turned out that Tom did not have AIDS at all, instead he had developed a disease called multiple sclerosis or MS. This disease affects the nervous system but is not fatal or contagious to anyone. It is unpredictable and can attack at any time. Common side effects of an MS attack are blurred vision, slurred speech, numbness, blindness, and eventually paralysis.

            Tom’s reasoning for not telling his employer about his disease was because he felt that he was able to perform well even with his disease and he didn’t want to be looked at or treated differently than anybody else, which is of course understandable.

            My question was, “Suppose Tom has AIDS. What should Carla do? Is an employee’s HIV status a job-related issue? In particular, is it a factor Carla should consider in deciding whether to promote Tom? What part, if any, should the attitudes of Tom’s coworkers play in Carla’s decision?”

            This topic is a very difficult one to approach and there is a very thin line between what is considered morally right and morally wrong in this type of situation. Obviously, as we all know AIDS is a contagious virus, but it can only be transmitted through sexual intercourse and open wounds. I think that Carla has no obligation to know about Tom’s medical condition. The only thing that she should have to worry about is that her employee’s get there job done and obey the health and safety regulations set by the state. There are no laws saying that people with HIV or AIDS cannot work in certain environments. It is just hoped that those who have HIV or AIDS are responsible people who make sure to avoid situations that could potentially be dangerous to themselves running the risk of infecting others. Obviously if Tom were to cut himself while slicing a bagel we would expect him to take care of his wound immediately, cleanse and disinfect the knife used as well as the counter he was working on, dispose of the bagel, and request not to work in the food preparation until the wound is healed. Accidents like don’t just happen in situations of food preparation. They can also happen in other job settings such as an office. It’s possible for a person who is infected with HIV or AIDS to get a paper cut while filing a document. They obviously need to treat the wound immediately, dispose of the document, and ask a fellow co-worker to reprint and file the document.

            Tom’s medical condition should also not affect the chances of him receiving a promotion. If he has worked hard and deserves the promotion then he should be given the opportunity to receive it. He may even deny the opportunity to take the promotion because he thinks that it may be too much work for him to handle along with his medical condition, but at least he is given the opportunity.

            Tom’s coworkers should play no part in Carla’s decision to promote Tom. If Carla was considering promoting a different employee I’m sure she wouldn’t discuss the decision with her other employees, so why should Tom’s case be any different.

            Do you think that my answers to the questions posed in this situation are correct? If not how do you think Carla should handle a situation like the one she was presented with?

My very good friend Dan and I decided that it was just such a wonderful day that we would grab a backpack fill it with a book, a blanket, and a Frisbee and make our way to Central Park. We got off the Subway at 53^rd and 5^th, grabbed some food from a street vendor, and walked the few blocks to Central Park. We found a nice sunny area to lay our blanket and eat our lunch. It was so nice not to have to worry about anything. We were able to lay down, relax and take in the beautiful day. After an hour or so we decided to take a walk to the mall, which is just a long strip of pathway with benches near the band stage and fountain. There were tons of roller bladders out as well. There was even an area of the mall that was completely fenced off so that roller skaters could show off there great skills so some funky 70s music. It was though I had stepped into another world. We stood and watched the roller skaters for a few minutes and continued to walk until we reached an area of the park called Sheet Meadows. It’s just this huge flat area of the greenest grass you have ever seen. There were tons of people lying on their blankets, throwing Frisbees, playing football and bat mitten. It was such an amazing sight to see. Everything just meshed together but didn’t disturb each other at the same time. Dan and I set up our blanket again and threw the Frisbee around until it began to get dark. We looked like complete fools because neither of us had ever really played Frisbee before, so instead of catching and throwing it, we spent more time chasing after it and picking it up off the ground.

My first trip to Central Park was exciting and relaxing. I’m just sorry it took sixteen years for it to happen. If you’ve never been, which I’m sure most of you have, I highly recommend it.