H J.
Yelp
The man working the day that I came was rude and completely out of line; I have a feeling he may be the owner. As soon as I came in, I was speaking German with him, though it's not my first language, but he insisted on speaking English with me. Fine - I've encountered this before in Berlin after living here for 5 years. His attitude from the moment I walked in was of the typical sarcastic, patronizing attitude I have encountered often by German men as a woman of color. I sat down and was debating whether to sit in the coworking space. I decided to pay the 10 Euros for the coworking space and saw that folks could also get coffee with the deal. As I've worked and also been in other coworking spaces in the city, it wasn't clear to me whether that meant 1 coffee or unlimited coffees, as I've encountered both in other spaces. I simply went up to ask him, and as I should've suspected, he proceeded to give some sarcastic shitty answer, because he couldn't understand how a place may give customers unlimited coffee. Instead of trying to clarify or explain himself, he proceeded - as I gathered my things to leave - to shout "I have Zeugen (witnesses)!" and proceeded to point out two other customers. And of course, the other German man in defending his defenseless German brother, proceeded to tell me that he hadn't done anything wrong. And of course, the lady - who I assumed to be customer-man's wife - didn't say anything; as this customer - along with the worker probably can only handle demure women.
When you run a business, try to work with customers; do not attack them with other customers. If you feel there's a misunderstanding, pacify and clarify the situation with the customer. If the worker had tried to clarify a misunderstanding w/ me, I would've happily talked further to clarify with him; but the only way he insisted on communicating with me was demeaning me with his sarcasm. He's the type of man that starts to act like a little school boy when he's intimidated by other folks.
