It could have been a disaster.
A write up of Portobello Death Cafe
By clareslaney
First the manager started bellowing. Then he threatened to lock us in. We decided to leave. So we won’t be going back there again.
It could have been an absolute disaster but Joy, a woman who had come a long way to be thrown out of a café, immediately arranged to go to the pub next door and I was confident that she would set up a cosy space for us.
A pub is not the best place to hold a Death Café. Piped jazz could have easily disrupted the event but the 11 people who adapted so quickly to the situation were interested, thoughtful and – though it’s an overused word – passionate about discussing death and dying. Although we had to project our voices conversation flowed, deeply-held opinions were communicated and received respectfully, information was exchanged. One or two people who were slightly hard of hearing found it frustrating and for that I’m sorry.
One of the benefits of being in a pub was that people who wanted to continue to talk after the event were able to. We formally closed and while some people left others stayed on. Everyone was enthusiastic about repeating the experience somewhere quieter with a less exciting beginning. I’ll be arranging that tomorrow.