The Woods Coffee

The coffee shop in the Viking union on campus never stirs my Caramel Macchiato. Each and every time I go there, I take a drink of my coffee and cringe; all I taste is scorched milk and the bitterness of pure espresso. A bitterness I’d enjoy if it were iced and not a raging ball of fire.

I enter The Woods, however, and Claire greets me by name and knows my order. A Cedar Caramel Macchiato. I talk to whichever is making my drink and pray quietly that it doesn’t taste of scorched milk and bitterness. But I know it won’t. It never does here.

The Woods Coffee on Railroad always smell of coffee, the sounds are that of steam rising from behind the counter, baristas calling orders, indie music playing over the sound system and the soft voices of patrons talking and enjoying their coffee. Everything feels comfortable, the people are welcoming, the smell of coffee and warm wooden tones are a blanket around my otherwise cold self.

During finals week of last quarter The Woods became a haven of sorts as I spent hours every morning studying and producing an essay for an introductory law class. I sat with my laptop in front of me, a textbook to one side and a flurry of pages spread out across the table, legal terms highlighted and defined, the beginnings of paragraphs emerging around them as I typed, searched, and defined in an attempt to brief a theoretical case. The scent of coffee and consistent hum of busy voices comfort me. I feel relaxed despite the growing mountain of work before me. Hours of work wrapped in the comfort of the Woods Coffee. As the store is filled with customers I know it’s time to leave. The small amount of space becomes rather unforgiving when you’re by yourself and the entire city of Bellingham it would seem convenes for some sort of gathering. Their success is also rather inconvenient.

Where else can I go to work? Located on campus; the Viking Union, Wilson Library, the Atrium, Zoe’s Bagels would all seem to make for convenient study locations. However, they would all seem to have a common fatal flaw; they’re noisy. They’re all filled with students socializing or working on group projects. While these may seem like study locations, the variety of student prerogative makes for a lot of discord. That is to say students use these convenient locations for a wide variety of activities. Most of which are, unfortunately, not conducive to a great work environment. Located in downtown Bellingham, barely a mile from campus it’s a prime location for students, however it’s not overwhelmingly so; it’s still first and foremost a coffee shop, less so a gathering place for students at lunchtime. As such it is subject to the social conventions of a coffee house as opposed to those of a central social location on a college campus.

The locations on campus at Western Washington University are filled solely with students all producing similar work, many are there to socialize or interact with groups. It becomes too much of a school environment at times and you begin feeling less like a person and more like just another student doing homework. You lose that independence, adulthood, and anonymity that came with moving out. But you regain that in a place that, while convenient for students, is not solely created for members of WWU’s community.

WW. Herman, the owner of the Woods Coffee, is an outspoken social conservative. Recently accusations of sexism, homophobia, and religious prejudice have brought some level of controversy to the Woods as a franchise within the Bellingham community. Accusations based in employee confidants, hear-say incidents implying sexual and gender prejudice, and a tendency toward funding socially conservative governmental and non-governmental organizations. Now I’m lactose intolerant and I prefer soy bigotry in my drinks. Regardless of the truth behind the accusations, they certainly provide for a moment of hesitation when deciding between the Woods and the nearby Starbucks (less face it there’s always a Starbucks nearby). As a socially conscience community member (or a queer and potentially impacted youth) it’s important to know where your money is going; in this case you may be funding potentially oppressive conservative programs indirectly. Somewhat similarly to stopping the funding of terrorism in the US through the sale of Ivory, visiting the Woods for your coffee may indirectly fund lobbyists who are not representing your interests. With that said, however, the Woods Coffee is a staple in the Bellingham community and the quality of coffee and comfort I feel at each of their locations outweighs that 2% bigotry. I the niche the Woods provides is every overreached by Herman’s personal opinions there’s always a Starbucks one block north.

The conservative beliefs of the Woods Coffee’s ownership has spurred an active boycott against the franchise. While the business doesn’t seem to be facing much pressure from the grassroots boycott movement, I, as a consumer, feel a lot of pressure to join the boycott. There hasn’t been much opportunity in my lifetime in my social environment for standing up for social change. I’ve faced a lot of pressure from my elders, specifically my high school French teacher and close friend to join a movement for the future as she did when she was a youth. Ultimately there’s a loft of underlying social context behind something as simple as where you choose to buy your coffee.

On one hand you’re supporting a successful local coffee shop with great quality drinks. On the other hand, you may be indirectly supporting a cause you may not otherwise lend money to.

The Woods Coffee is, in many ways, a coffee shop like any other. They’re warm and welcoming. But the role the Woods plays as a part of our community here in Whatcom county and the home-grown quality of the coffee that you’d expect from a Bellingham business makes it worth the extra mile.