At Java Jacks in the riverside town of Tappahannock, Va., the sausage is savory, the beignet-like jacks are sugar-dusted and you have your choice of t-shirts.
asserted
you → dust → shirts
You can get a brightly-colored one with an image of the cafe and its slogan, "Come in, We're Awesome," or you can go for something darkly funny that says "Coffee Makes Me Feel Less Murdery."
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Me → get → something
"We started by selling just the t-shirts of the building.
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We → start → building
And then we'd gotten a couple of the sarcastic shirts for the staff and the customers were trying to buy them off of our backs," owner Jeans Owens laughs from behind the coffee bar.
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Owens → get → bar
Java Jacks started in 2006, in what was once someone's little one-story home on the main road through town.
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what → start → town
The atmosphere is cozy and friendly, with pictures of smiling customers and staff taped to door frames and to the wall.
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atmosphere → smile → wall
Owens and her husband took over the business about eight years ago.
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Owens → take → business
"What we were interested in was being our own bosses," she says, "and something that could set us up a little better for retirement.
uncertain
that → say → retirement
"
But their first years running the cafe have included the pandemic and inflation: lots of expensive bumps for small business owners.
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years → run → owners
"Our coffee prices went sky high," she says.
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she → go → ?
The cost of beef is up, so is the cost of sausage and paper products for takeout orders: "To-go boxes.
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boxes → go → orders
You know there was a time we were paying 12 cents for those," Owens says.
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Owens → know → those
"The cup, the lid, the straw used to cost us all together maybe 3 cents."
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cup → use → cents
She says it's now more than 20 cents.
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it → say → ?
The cafe's electricity bill has also recently jumped.
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bill → jump → ?
"Normally, I'm paying $450, $500 a month," she says.
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she → pay → 450
"I'm paying over $1000 now."
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I → pay → 1000
Owens says Java Jacks has a loyal customer base and she's been committed to doing whatever she can to keep menu prices affordable, including keeping some meals at $10.
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she → say → 10
She says she now goes to Walmart early in the morning to get milk and juice rather than purchase them from a supplier.
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she → say → supplier
She goes to a local grocery store for fresh fruit.
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She → go → fruit
She also regularly checks prices between three suppliers and switches between them, depending on which one has the lowest costs.
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one → check → costs
It's not just Owens' habits that have changed, it's her customers': she's noticed more senior citizens sharing orders.
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citizens → change → orders
"We had like maybe one or two when we bought [Java Jacks], but now we'll have multiple tickets a day that are split."
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that → have → tickets
Some customers are adjusting how they tip her staff, too.
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they → adjust → staff
"They tend to be tipped very well just because we're a small atmosphere," Owens says.
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Owens → tend → ?
But when the price of gas shot up, the tips got smaller.
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tips → shoot → gas
"When [gas] came back down, we started seeing that trend change," she says.
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she → come → ?
Owens feels she's handling the increase in costs as best she can, though she is having to increase menu prices.
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she → feel → prices
But the biggest stressor for her right now is finding and keeping staff, a situation that's also rooted in affordability.
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that → find → affordability
Owens has another coffee spot across the river in Warsaw.
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Owens → have → Warsaw
She's been short-staffed between both locations for months at a time
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She → staff → time
Rents have increased in this rural area, where the median income is around $50,000 a year.
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income → increase → area
She says she's had to help employees find places to live and she's even put them up temporarily in a motel.
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she → say → motel
Transportation is another problem: some workers don't have cars or are squeezed too much by current gas prices.
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workers → have → prices
"We have about five employees right now that we carpool to work," she says.
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she → have → work
All of this means Owens has had to take shifts in the kitchen, putting off her front-of-house duties and paperwork to her evenings and days off.
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Owens → mean → evenings
She says it's the same with other local restaurant owners: they're working themselves to the bone.
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they → say → bone
Owens won't discuss midterm politics, even though what she's learned about the lack of housing and transportation in the area has prompted her to run for the non-partisan town council.
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learned → discuss → council
Owens says whoever wins, she wants them to understand what small businesses like hers are dealing with these days.
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businesses → say → hers
"We're struggling," she says, bluntly.
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she → struggle → ?
…and 36 more, not listed.
The Aporia
