June 17 2021

Meet a LoCoFloer: Monica Dunst

Tags: Meet the Owners

Monica's first day with us was March 14 2020 for Sat@LoCoFlo. It was also the last day our shop was open to customers for more than a year. I remember a lot of nervous hand-washing and no masks.

LoCoFlo adjusted services and schedule (shout out to all of our subscribers!) Monica, and the rest of Ellen's flunkies, adjusted too. Everybody worked alone in shifts at the shop until we all got vaccinated.

So, dear reader, I'm meeting Monica, LoCoFlo employee with 16 months of service, along with you. We spoke, socially distant but in person, over pizza at the shop.

Hi Monica. We don't even know you. Let's start with some icebreakers. What kind of animal would you describe yourself as? Just say whatever comes to mind.

Cat.

Cat? Cat is wrong. Would you describe yourself as a people person?

Yes

Would you like to elaborate?

I always thought I was an introvert. But, during quarentine I think I discovered I am more of a shy extrovert - I like to be around people.

What else did you learn while quarentined?

Knitting, applying eyeliner, how to french braid hair, how to shuffle cards in a bridge.

Are you a big gambler?

No, not at all. But I do own 79 dogecoin.

I would count that as gambling. What price did you buy at?

$.07

What are they worth now?

About $25.

Each!?!

No, total.

Not bad. The pandemic was crazy, right?

Yeah.

If you saw me walking down the street, away from LoCoFlo, would you recognize me?

Yes.

With a mask?

I think so.

Would you acknowledge me?

Yes.

That was definitive - also a minority position among the staff. Anyways, we have a lot in common. You, like Ellen, are from western New York and moved to Baltimore from San Francisco.

That's true.

Everybody hates San Francisco now. When we lived there, in the mid- 90's, it got annoying how often we heard how great San Francisco was - but it really was pretty great back then. Why does it suck so hard now?

Everyone moved away - mostly to LA so everyone who lives there now are rich tech people, and all the cool businesses are gone.

So Baltimore is better?

I like Baltimore more. People are nicer.

Baltimore is the bomb. But, I think we can improve our pizza game. This is from Vito's. It's pretty good.

(FYI Toss is the official pizza of LoCoFlo, but they were closed. You got to mix it up sometimes anyway.)

Yeah. I like it.

Did you like Escape From New York?

Oh, that was my favorite!

How about Zachary's?

I never went there.

What! That pizza is awesome! But you have to take BART to the east bay and it was Chicago style and there was always a line so you had to plan your whole day around it. Still worth it.

(I grab another slice.)

You know what? I saw Cal Ripken Jr at Vito's once.

I don't know who that is.

I don't think you can work here anymore.

Is he a sports person? I don't know sports people.

He's the iron man. Baseball hall of fame? 3,000 hits/400 homers. He was at Vito's with Brady Anderson. Side burns. 50 dingers leading off.

(Monica gives me the McKalya Maroney face - not impressed.)

Moving on... How did you find us?

My sister lives here. I worked in the foral industry in San Francisco, so she told me about you before I moved.

You were here for a while before we hired you. Did we need to clear anything up from your background check?

No. I think you had some employees who were pregnant and taking leave.

What's it like working at LoCoFlo?

Mostly I've been alone and listeing to podcasts. I never listened to podcasts before.

What have you been listening to?

Office Ladies, Ologies. Up First.

Let's talk about your knife. What that all about?

When I worked at Church St Flowers in San Francisco we all used knives. It's a Swiss Army floral knife.

That's serious. Any injuries?

Maybe? I've cut myself more with the clippers.

We're a clipper-only shop.

The knife is better for high volume. We're a little more laid back here. It is really good for stripping roses - which we don't have.

Until recently. We committed to buy the entire garden rose harvest from Florxeight this year.

Awesome!

Yeah, it's pretty sweet.

What are the big plans? What are the dreams?

I always wanted to own my own flower shop, but I also have interest in sustainable farming. I have a lot of interests and having a hard time focusing on future plans. I'm having a quarter life crisis.

Ok. TMI. Also, make us an offer. Compared to San Francisco, this place is a bargain. Let's end here and talk turkey offline.

Meet Monica in person Sat@LoCoFlo.

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