Two or more years ago, I clearly recall the since-departed 5th Muse stating her belief that Bridgehead was a fine place for her to be. Partly because she judged the male patrons cute. More particularly because she'd reasoned that, since they were buying fair trade coffee, they must be possessed of developed social consciences. Therefore, they'd make good dates. Like all idealistic generalizations, this one seemed and seems problematic.
Yet. Yet. How many people patronize Bridgehead because they believe it to support their values? How many - secretly or overtly - hope to meet a suitable partner there, presumably self-screened to share their deeper values? If BH merely marketed beverages and snacks, the well-coiffed, well-dressed lovelorn could as easily line up to suck budget-conscious double-doubles and Ice Caps amid the luridly utilitarian fluorescent and arborite ethos of Tim Horton's.
They do not. Not when I'm there.
So it may be that what BH really sells is simultaneously more important and less concrete - a localized zeitgeist/gestalt/tribal affiliation that appeals to a specific demographic, in search of an atmosphere that will appear to reinforce very specific things about themselves. The team owes it to art and science to observe and explore these phenomena in their puzzling inferential multiplicity.
I must end this journal entry, though, with a salutary warning to myself and Pandora to be cautious about leaping to premature conclusions. It may be best to refer to a long-ago Elgin Street Irregulars weblog posting:
"I wonder whether the Muse is equipped to navigate the unseen pitfalls of her own ideals? And I think to myself that... she's trying. But does she have any reliable maps or guides? The soul is a very large continent..."
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