3118 Georgia Ave, NW
“Dear PoPville,
I’ve been meaning to reach out about the unique acts of kindness l regularly see from the Doubles staff. Doubles is an important community hub, and many of us rely on it as a place to work and socialize. Many others rely on it as a place for basic needs like restroom use, a place to get free pastries and water, a phone to use, or a place to warm up or cool down.
I can’t think of many businesses that even let non-paying customers use their restrooms, and the Doubles baristas are often called upon to do much more. I have regularly seen this staff step up and do everything from de-escalation, to giving of their own resources to help out an unhoused community member, to administering narcan in an emergency. All while running a very good and very busy coffee shop that often has many as 100 seated customers alone.
A lot of businesses may talk about compassion, but giving it in daily, difficult actions in the middle of a service rush is exceptionally rare. The GM, Sam Rome, also runs coffee tastings and has an infectious passion for coffee that probably deserves its own post.
Anyway, with plenty of noisy bad news to capture our attention, I hope you will amplify this reminder that subtle but significant kindness also happens in our neighborhoods, every day.”