A perfect example of how liberal good intention programs make things worse for the community. http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/10...ng-after-opening-of-panera-cares-in-lakeview/
In my opinion this is an example of how people who get shit for free dont respect it. I have a buddy who owns bars and so he is often asked to do the bar for weddings, and special events, he said that over the years he has noticed that if you give alcohol away for free at the end of the night you inevitably end up pouring hundreds if not thousands of full drinks down the sink, (depending on the size of the event) people just set the drink down and walk away and never give the slightest consideration to the fact that SOMEONE has to pay for it. He said even if you do tickets for drinks, and make people line up for tickets then go to the bar, or else charge 1 dollar a drink, the alcohol bill is cut down to 25-50% of the cost as opposed to where it is simply a free for all where anyone can grab anything they want. So he always recommends people charge something, even if they charge something and tell everyone it is a donation to charity, or else create some sort of way for them to have to put in a little bit of effort, as opposed to just doing open bar free for alls where someone can just grab anything they want. Its human nature, people just dont give a fuck if they get something for free they will take it and abuse it, even forcing them to go to the slightest amount of effort makes them think twice about abusing the situation.
In Boulder, CO there is a bar on the downtown mall that has a large wooden beam over the back of the bar with these words carved into it: Free Beer Tomorrow.
This is right in my neighborhood. I go there a lot. This whole thing has become very controversial around here. A little background on my hood. It's very white, almost 100% white and pretty affluent and slightly gay. I noticed in the last month or so that the area is getting very black. I say this with all due respect. I'm simply saying it was noticeable living in a white yuppie hood and to start seeing black people everywhere. It took me a while to make the connection to the Panera. Well now, people are pissed. Anyone who owns property is scared shitless they are going to see a drop in their property values. Beggars are not everywhere on the streets. And Panera even started locking the bathroom doors for the first time. This experiment is really interesting and nobody knows what the long term effects will be. This Panera is one of three in the entire country that has gone to a pay what you want model. You basically order food, they tell you what the fair value of that meal costs and you pay what you can. Some people pay nothing, most pay about what it should cost and some people pay a little more to donate. The character inside this place has definitely changed. Use to be full of young students with their laptops doing homework and now it's starting to resemble a city bus station at 2am. LOL. Personally, I think Panera should have picked a location closer to the south side to do this. Using a location smack dab in the middle of yuppiehood probably was not the best idea.
The way this looks this me, panera chooses this location because the area is wealthy enough and perhaps luck out with higher "donations". I'm going to guess Panera probably advertises at homeless shelters or the Y or wherever for the poor and downtrodden to enjoy the panera dining experience sans institution. ------------------------------- "When you walk in, it's the full Panera experience," Shaich said. "When you go into a soup kitchen, the energy is so negative and the food is institutional and the experience is institutional." He said the idea for the community model was to "create an experience," that could "lift people up" and provide some dignity for those who can't afford to pay. To make the concept work, consumers who have extra money are asked to donate it. Those who are short can pay less, and those who can't pay anything can volunteer for an hour to eat free. Shaich said the idea has worked because Panera turns the stores over to the Panera Bread Foundation, a tax-exempt organization that runs day-to-day operations. This frees the publicly traded restaurant company of its obligation to run a profitable business. --------------------------- I wonder how a tax exempt works side by side with a for profit? Can I take my overstock from one store and donate it to my panera foundation store? I wonder how this affects real estate taxes on the building. Panera could build equity on the building, not pay taxes.
Back in the 80's there was a movie called "The gods must be crazy". Pilot flying a small plane over Africa throws an empty coke bottle out the window. Indigenous people find it, realize it makes a great tool, then they begin fighting amongst themselves over it. It causes a great disturbance in their tribal way of life. The movie has a happy ending, however. The Africans decide that the bottle was given to them by their gods, who were crazy, so they threw it over a cliff. Peaceful African tribal tranquility resumes, the end.