Amy Jones: Building Community Instinctively

East Cafe Barista/Honorary Book Club Member

TECC: Do you remember the first time you stepped into East Cafe? What happened?

Amy: What a cute question! I don’t remember the exact day, but it was sometime in 2020 or 2021, when East Cafe was still run by the previous owner, Grace — before the Josh dynasty. But even then, there was just something about walking in there. It’s the simple things for me when it comes to a cafe. East Cafe was friendly, the coffee was good and cheap, and it was close. Going there was pure convenience, because I lived less than a five-minute walk away, just across the street from Donald’s Market at the time.

For about a year, I came in every single day as a customer before I ever got hired. When I asked for a barista job, Grace hired me on the spot because she knew me and we had become friends. No interview or resume needed. Then Josh bought the cafe and became my new boss. It’s been a huge transformation since then. He overhauled the whole service and atmosphere, but it makes me so happy that I still have a great personal relationship with the owner.

Photos: Shrinal Thakkar

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TECC: What do you enjoy most about working here?

Amy: Definitely the people! Compared to a lot of my former workplaces, which were more on the corporate side or chain businesses, where customers are treated like numbers, I get to interact with everyone as myself here, as a friendly, bubbly, chatty barista. That behavior is what many other places specifically train their employees out of. When I worked at McDonald’s, for example, somebody complained about me smiling too much.

Working at East Cafe is the opposite of those old jobs, because Josh is creating a community space and a clientele of people who know each other. The fact that I’m encouraged to make friends and talk to customers about what they’re interested in — that’s my favorite thing.

I read in Jarrod’s interview that he met me and therefore became a regular at the cafe. I absolutely remember the first time he came in, and when we hung out at the East Cafe opening party later on, talking about Dungeons & Dragons.

TECC: What does community mean to you?

Amy: That’s a huge question and an extremely important topic for me. Community is the ethos that drives my politics as a whole. I could talk about this forever, but to distill it to the core: I think what historically makes us humans unique and what makes us succeed is that we build community instinctively. Even if surrounded by a culture of isolation that doesn’t foster it, people will still build community. Nothing can stop us from doing that, apparently, and that is so beautiful to me. The most important thing we have is each other.

That’s why I love the cafe: it’s not just a business, but also a community. Instead of ordering in alone at home or Ubering everywhere, why not use public transit that takes very long and go to a cafe that is very crowded? You’ll enjoy the interesting conversations along the way and find them very rewarding in the end.

Community inspires me to be optimistic and trust that everyone has each other’s best interest at heart, even if that means being vulnerable and risking something at the same time. Life is meaningless alone!

Photos: Shrinal Thakkar

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TECC: Where in the neighborhood do you like to hang out for fun?

Amy: When I’m not working, I’m mostly at my own home in the neighborhood or at my girlfriends’ apartments further away. For food, I go to Bon’s Off Broadway all the time; it’s one of my favorite spots in the city. Usually, for brunch after my morning shift. I don’t get coffee there, though, because I’ve probably had too much at the cafe already.

I’m a huge fan of the Village Bloomery dispensary, because the staff are so nice and always talk for at least half an hour with me. I also enjoy the outdoor spaces and parks in the area, especially Kamloops Plaza. I performed drag there a couple of times, and sometimes just hang out there before or after work.

TECC: What is your favorite item on the cafe’s menu?

Amy: My immediate reaction is our drip coffee. I’m not just saying that because I work here, but the Peru medium roast drip coffee is my absolute favorite and the best I've ever had. I know that’s a boring answer, but it’s just true.

I miss the Apple Chicken Blue Cheese Sandwich, but no one except me liked it. Now I eat a sausage roll with salsa and Sriracha every day. I’m such a creature of habit.

The drip coffee in the morning and the sausage roll between 12 and 1 p.m. are rituals I need to function. These things ground me and bring me back to life when I feel stressed out. I eat outside the cafe, get my bearings back, and come back in as a new person.