Paddy's Coffee House has received quite awards and recognitions. And quite honestly, each and every one of them has been a complete surprise. We have never ever gone out of our way to solicit awards or recognitions. We just open our doors, smile like the dickens, be the friend and family on your travels and help out where ever we can. And unbeknownst to us, people talk about our involvements and participation, and lo and behold, we get calls congratulating us for yet another award.
So, shockingly we have to mention that on June 6th 2011, we are receiving yet another award. This time, the California Small Business Association is recognising us as an outstanding Small Business of the year from District 10, represented by Senator Ellen Corbett.
On behalf of everyone in the community and all our well wishers and patrons, we will be accepting the award. Our heartfelt thanks to each and every one, and to Senator Ellen Corbett for nominating us.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
Where do we go for coffee and tea ?
When we are out and about, we prefer to visit similar establishments in the neighbourhood. Suju's Coffee in Fremont is the grand daddy of them all. Mahesh Patel is our friend and mentor. When we started, we would constantly run to him for guidance. Thank you Mahesh for everything that you have done. We are in your debt.
Apart from Suju's, we go to Mission Coffee in the Mission Area of Fremont. We also have Eon Coffee, across from Chabot College in Hayward. In San Leandro, we have Zocalo Coffee House. What can we say about Tim Holmes? We started off around the same time, both ex geek heads venturing in the world of retail. At least a month does not pass when we share and exchange stories and our foibles. We are the sounding board for each other.
And let us not forget the newest kid on the block, Snappy's Cafe in Hayward. April Yamaguchi used to work for us with the understanding that she will be opening her own coffee house in the future. And boy, did she do it ? It is with great pleasure that we inform the world that the first week end in June is Snappy's first anniversary. Congratulations April and Snappy's. Very truly, welcome to neighbourhood. Our loss is A Street's gain.
With all of them, we have a lot of common traffic and frequently, we send patrons to each others establishments.
May the power of indie coffee houses rise.
Apart from Suju's, we go to Mission Coffee in the Mission Area of Fremont. We also have Eon Coffee, across from Chabot College in Hayward. In San Leandro, we have Zocalo Coffee House. What can we say about Tim Holmes? We started off around the same time, both ex geek heads venturing in the world of retail. At least a month does not pass when we share and exchange stories and our foibles. We are the sounding board for each other.
And let us not forget the newest kid on the block, Snappy's Cafe in Hayward. April Yamaguchi used to work for us with the understanding that she will be opening her own coffee house in the future. And boy, did she do it ? It is with great pleasure that we inform the world that the first week end in June is Snappy's first anniversary. Congratulations April and Snappy's. Very truly, welcome to neighbourhood. Our loss is A Street's gain.
With all of them, we have a lot of common traffic and frequently, we send patrons to each others establishments.
May the power of indie coffee houses rise.
Tales from the Vault - A new beginning
Earlier on, we had mentioned this young lad. Imagine our surprise, when he shows up at Paddy's one day, with a nice young lady in tow. It was a shock on seeing him. He looked real good, had an air of confidence in him. The Army had taken care of a wayward soul.
We knew the young lady from her previous visits to the shop and we had reckoned the two were friends. To our utter pleasant shock, they inform us that they had recently got married in a civil ceremony while he was on leave. It was an emotional moment for all of us, because we were seeing the growth and maturity.
Turns out, apart from the marriage, the lad was in the process of reconciling with his parents. Pointed out to both of them, that they are not the brash young teenagers any more, who think they know the world. A simple word of Sorry will help in breaking the ice with his parents.
And lo and behold, a couple days later, his dad shows up, thanking us profusely for our assistance. All we did was talk patiently to the young boy, that's all. It was more his doing than anything else.
It is instances like these that make it worthwhile keeping the doors open.
We knew the young lady from her previous visits to the shop and we had reckoned the two were friends. To our utter pleasant shock, they inform us that they had recently got married in a civil ceremony while he was on leave. It was an emotional moment for all of us, because we were seeing the growth and maturity.
Turns out, apart from the marriage, the lad was in the process of reconciling with his parents. Pointed out to both of them, that they are not the brash young teenagers any more, who think they know the world. A simple word of Sorry will help in breaking the ice with his parents.
And lo and behold, a couple days later, his dad shows up, thanking us profusely for our assistance. All we did was talk patiently to the young boy, that's all. It was more his doing than anything else.
It is instances like these that make it worthwhile keeping the doors open.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Health and Wellness meet
As mentioned in one of the earlier posts, we are organising a Health and Wellness meeting for the community, every 2nd Thursday of the month. Our first speaker is Marian Inciong. She and her family will be talking about her battles with breast cancer and how the family is coping now.
This is a great opportunity for the community members to interact and learn from within the community.
This is a great opportunity for the community members to interact and learn from within the community.
Start Up Tech Hub meet
There are quite a few tech start ups that use Paddy's as a location for coding, meetings and general what have you. And being the inquisitive soul that we are, we query them on their product etc. And to help some of them out, we have implemented their products at Paddy's.
It is with an intent to bring together all these like minded people, we are organising a StartUp Tech Hub meet every 3rd Saturday of the month from 2 to 4 pm. June 18th will be our first meet. Our goal is to introduce the startups to other techies, marketing folks, city and financial folks, all in all making it a perfect networking opportunity. We are planning on guest speakers from next month, so stay tuned.
It is with an intent to bring together all these like minded people, we are organising a StartUp Tech Hub meet every 3rd Saturday of the month from 2 to 4 pm. June 18th will be our first meet. Our goal is to introduce the startups to other techies, marketing folks, city and financial folks, all in all making it a perfect networking opportunity. We are planning on guest speakers from next month, so stay tuned.
Tales from the Vault
This was post the Bin Laden killing in Pakistan. Early in the morning, customer walks in, orders his drink. This being early in the morning, no other customers around. The conversation initiated by him as follows
Customer : Your country must be in mourning now
Me : Why
Customer : They killed Osama in your country
Me : No sir, that was in Pakistan, I am from India
Customer : Well, it is all the same
Me : (injecting levity and finding the conversation surreal), No sir, it is like we say, all Asians look alike
Customer : hey, those countries do not cause problems, your countries do
Me : That's not true sir. I think you are being misinformed and are being judgmental.
Customer : Well, whatever dude, just be glad we did not nuke your region out.
Me : Here is your drink Sir, have a nice day.
Needless to say, it was very disturbing and unnerving that such perceptions exist and countenance to that is met with stoic indifference. The irony of course, customer was young white male, driving a pickup truck. Now am I being stereotyping ?
Customer : Your country must be in mourning now
Me : Why
Customer : They killed Osama in your country
Me : No sir, that was in Pakistan, I am from India
Customer : Well, it is all the same
Me : (injecting levity and finding the conversation surreal), No sir, it is like we say, all Asians look alike
Customer : hey, those countries do not cause problems, your countries do
Me : That's not true sir. I think you are being misinformed and are being judgmental.
Customer : Well, whatever dude, just be glad we did not nuke your region out.
Me : Here is your drink Sir, have a nice day.
Needless to say, it was very disturbing and unnerving that such perceptions exist and countenance to that is met with stoic indifference. The irony of course, customer was young white male, driving a pickup truck. Now am I being stereotyping ?
Friday, May 6, 2011
Health and Wellness discussions
We are an integral part of the community and as such, we like to involve the community in various issues. One of the topics that we have contemplated for a while is having a talk by the community members of the various health issues within the community.
We will be doing this every 2nd Thursday of the month from 7 to 8 pm. We start of the series with a discussion on Breast Cancer. One of our customers who underwent breast cancer treatment will be talking and sharing her stories on Thursday June 9th, from 7 to 8 pm.
Please help us spread the word.
We will be doing this every 2nd Thursday of the month from 7 to 8 pm. We start of the series with a discussion on Breast Cancer. One of our customers who underwent breast cancer treatment will be talking and sharing her stories on Thursday June 9th, from 7 to 8 pm.
Please help us spread the word.
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