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Italy's longest-serving barista reflects on six decades behind the counter
- jack_tripper 10mo agoAlways love reading interviews with Italy's youth ;)
- defrost 10mo agoGreat interview with this Australian who's almost a teen ... https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45487077 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45487077
- Aeolun 10mo agoI wonder what happened to the dance floor. It appears at some point, and then apparently it disappears again too, because the youth stop coming.
- bell-cot 10mo agoBetween the lines you can hear the eulogy for a healthy economy and dense social network which have, now, mostly rotted away.
- komali2 10mo ago> I tell my granddaughters: work, save, don’t depend on anyone. The world is getting harder. This woman lived through fascist Italy and everything that came after, and then says this about the way the world is going.
- amarant 10mo agoReading the writing on the wall perhaps. In Soviet Russia, Rome is a poor city I guess
- komali2 10mo agoSorry, I don't quite understand what this means, can you help?
- amarant 10mo agoRussia seems poised to invade Europe in the near future. If they do, and succeed, Rome could become part of the new Soviet Union(which Putin has explicitly said he wants to bring back) Once that happens, it's likely to lead to poverty. At least that's what happened in the last USSR
- almostgotcaught 10mo ago> Russia seems poised to invade Europe in the near future. If they do, and succeed Is this a joke? There is literally no chance this ever happens.
- frankest 10mo agoRussia’s kleptocracy has impoverished the country so much that it now needs attrition in its male population to keep people from rising up against the current leadership. War is how you keep poor citizens from rebelling against you. When the war is over, historically the returning soldiers (especially in Russia) overturn the leadership. So there is never an incentive to stop a war. Especially a losing one.
- brendoelfrendo 10mo agoI always think that I would hate to work into my old age, but it's different for some. I can't speak to what Anna's financial situation is like, but the way she talks about her work as part of the community and a way to stay active and independent makes me think that she's content, and that's great. She certainly seems like she's doing well for 101!
- swatcoder 10mo agoFor most people, it proves very disorienting to not be doing something constructive for others, and in a capitalist world, where everything easily becomes transactional and people get a little isolated from deeper community and family, it's kind of organic for that drive to be fulfilled by continuing to work in old age. Lots of people do it by choice. If you feel like you might be on that road, the smart trick is to start thinking early about what kind of work you might want to take up during that stage and plant the seeds for it early. Some people don't have a lot of choice to prepare, and just end up falling into being barista because the job is there and they find they enjoy it. But the other barista at that same cafe might be the owner who bought it as their own "retirement", filling shifts when they want to, while giving the neighborhood a place to gather.
- socalgal2 10mo ago>and in a capitalist world, where everything easily becomes transactional and people get a little isolated from deeper community and family, What does this have to do with capitalism?
- swatcoder 10mo agoHuh? Not every culture or community is built so centrally around atomization and transactionality as the prevailing one is. But those things represent the essence of what capitalism is, and are central to what it aspires to acheive. It works its magic when people can negotiate their relationships through currency and through accounts measured against it, and so a society that means to participate in it is one that tends to engender payment, quantified barter, and unburdened individuality over alternatives like filial concern or community enrichment. It's not really a controversial thing to suggest, and wasn't there to be accusatory or something. It's the world we live in.
- N_Lens 10mo agoWorking past a 100 is a dream of mine (The barista in the article is 101). I don't think too many people are fond of images of old age in the Western popular zeitgeist - care homes, infirmity, increasing disability. I hope we can cultivate more 'blue zones' across the Planet, such as in Japan and around the Mediterranean. We have the capability to do so.
- owlninja 10mo agoI'm not sold on the whole blue zone thing... here is an HN discussion on a paper refuting some of the claims that won an Ig Nobel prize last year: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41738434 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41738434
- zdc1 10mo agoPersonally, if I could stop working tomorrow I would. I have nothing against work, but I do feel that most jobs aren't particularly meaningful, and so they act as a pacifier that fills in our time so we don't need to confront the question of: what do we do with our time?
- matwood 10mo agoI’ll never stop working for some definition of work. I will stop doing the things I don’t want to do.
- mckn1ght 10mo agoI dream of the day I don’t have to work for anyone else, and I dream of the things I can create after that day comes.
- criddell 10mo agoWhen my dad retired, he basically stopped doing much of anything outside of watching television. I think if I could afford to retire tomorrow, I'd have no trouble keeping myself busy for the rest of my life.
- bix6 10mo agoI was thinking about robotic baristas the other day and how you might save on costs but you give up so much; If I’m going out for coffee I prefer places where I know the baristas so I get to feel like a part of my community.
- oersted 10mo ago> robotic baristas Coffee vending machines? That’s what’s inside the box, it’s nothing new really… There are very high quality ones too. It’s not a particularly skilled job for a human to do, besides the customer service aspect of course, perhaps I am ignorant in that regard. Indeed, coming from Spain, I don’t really see the lady as a barista, she is the classic bartender that listens to you and knows everybody. Except the bar is open throughout the day, is family friendly, sells all kinds besides alcohol (breakfast, coffee, tobacco, lunch, dinner, newspapers, lottery tickets, snacks and sweets…), and generally acts as the social nexus of the neighborhood. These old school small bars are everywhere in southern EU. Within that context it is less surprising that she would stay working there as long as she physically could.
- pezezin 10mo agoI am also Spanish, living in Japan, and our bars is one the things I miss the most. Seriously, you don't realize how amazing Spanish bars are until you don't have them. Here I just stop by a konbini, grab a can coffee and a plastic-wrapped sandwich, and off I go. There is no social nexus, and no neighbourhood for that matter. It's depressing.
- silcoon 10mo agoShe's vividly awaken with an active mind at 101 yo, it's not a thing for everyone. We try to fix the body decadence problem with technology while ancient seems already discovered it. You can see it in her words and her lifestyle; a simple life, a helpful work, a community that makes you feel appreciated for what you do. All the rest doesn't really matter for longevity. Btw, the woman is addressing the interviewer using "her", which is a common form of respect, for a person probably half her age.
- Yiin 10mo agomany people living simple fulfilling lives die much earlier, it's more an exception than the rule (I don't argue that those things doesn't help, just that they alone is not the reason for long healthy life)
- djtango 10mo agoI have a pet theory that classical musicians overindex on longevity, and I believe that the fulfilment and community aspects are contributors to their longevity. No evidence and probably full of bias but seems intuitive enough
- Cthulhu_ 10mo agoI think in her case, she kept working, kept interacting with people on a daily basis. A lot of elderly people see mental / physical decline in part due to inactivity, and doing your daily crosswords or brain trainer isn't enough I think.
- mattmaroon 10mo agohttps://archive.is/D6o9S https://archive.is/D6o9S
- anshulbhide 10mo agoCan you imagine the insights on human behaviour that she has had?
- isoprophlex 10mo ago> I’ve seen generations grow up. Some grandparents come in with their grandkids and say, “Anna, remember the jukebox?” > Today, however, young people no longer come to the bar. They came when we had the dance floor and the music. Today, they like to spend time with the smartphone; they even take it to bed when they go to sleep. What are we losing, what are we taking away from life, now that we ourselves have become a resource to extract. Probably, a lot.
- simonebrunozzi 10mo ago> What are we losing, what are we taking away from life, now that we ourselves have become a resource to extract. Probably, a lot. Beautifully said. And sad.
- carabiner 10mo agoAre we the bad guys?
- hsbauauvhabzb 10mo agoIf you have to ask?
- lqet 10mo ago> Today, [young people] like to spend time with the smartphone; they even take it to bed when they go to sleep. Recently my parents (in their mid-60ies) were visiting us. At some point I realized that both of them had been quietly sitting at our dinner table for over on hour, eyes glued on their smartphones. They are massively addicted. I have noticed that they get nervous as soon as the smartphone is out of reach, or even in silent mode. They mostly talk to friends via Whatsapp and are in constant fear that they miss out on something or that these friends (which also seem to spend most of their days on Whatsapp) will be offended if they don't reply within 5 minutes to the latest Whatsapp trivia. It is quite a struggle to even get them to turn off their phones when we are having dinner. The Whatsapp messages just keep coming in. My wife recently learned that her mother mostly spends her evenings with posting photos of her life on social media, and broke off contact with her brothers for a few days because they failed to quickly and enthusiastically react to some photos she posted on a family Whatsapp group. But I guess for Anna Possi, our parents are "young people" and could be her grandchildren...
- 31337Logic 10mo agoGod damn!
- AmbroseBierce 10mo agoI talked with a barista that had worked 10 years at Starbucks and he still made minimum wage after all that time, it was specially worrying since minimum wage in this country it's equivalent to 420 usd a month.
- Cthulhu_ 10mo agoIf they worked for a decade and never got a pay rise (other than minimum wage increases), why are they still working there? In an ideal world, you get wage and career progression over time, or move on to a different career otherwise.
- AmbroseBierce 10mo agoI know that he was learning programming on the side so his plan was to work on that, I don't know how that ended up.
- mattmaroon 10mo agoIf it took ten years you know how it ended up.
- somewhereoutth 10mo agoHowever the world we live in is not ideal, and wages are being systematically crushed by capital.
- bevr1337 10mo ago> or move on to a different career otherwise. Folks rarely have this choice. What industry wants a barista outside food service? This is why we get stuck wearing a green apron for a decade, or working call center jobs, or any other crappy job.
- lotsofpulp 10mo agoPeople aren’t locked into being baristas. People immigrate from all over the world to the US, and become whatever they have to. Dry cleaners, landscapers, cooks, maids, nurses, etc.
- spiritplumber 10mo agoThis is very near my hometown (Nebbiuno; I am from Verbania). Lots of very old people here. The world's oldest lady used to be from Verbania, she died at 117. Northern Italy is less loud than southern Italy but it has a quiet beauty.
- sph 10mo agoThere's dozens of us from that neck of the woods! (I'm 30 km away from Lago Maggiore)
- UomoNeroNero 10mo agoIf you ever pass through Liguria, I can even treat you to a coffee. (But nothing more, eh! )
- sph 10mo agoAs the stereotype goes, you would probably forget your wallet at home :-)
- UomoNeroNero 10mo agoBelin ehh l’ho lasciato a casaaa
- josefrichter 10mo agoThis lady keeps popping up on Hacker News every 3 months :D God bless her!
- s5300 10mo ago[dead]
- dei-integrity 10mo ago[dead]