Your fav 3rd places

from the zine vol. ii

“The phrase ‘third places’ derives from considering our homes to be the ‘first’ places in our lives, and our workplaces the ‘second’…The character of a third place is determined most of all by its regular clientele and is marked by a playful mood, which contrasts with people’s more serious involvement in other spheres…They are the heart of a community’s social vitality, the grassroots of democracy, but sadly, they constitute a diminishing aspect of the American social landscape. Life without community has produced, for many, a lifestyle consisting mainly of a home-to-work-and-back again shuttle. Social well-being and psychological health depend upon community.”

-Ray Oldenburg

YMCA of Wareham, MA. In particular the men’s sauna. Thanks to the charitable legacy of a local wealthy family, the facilities are top-tier and well-maintained, while membership remains affordable.  Clientele spans across all socioeconomic strata. The men’s sauna might contain any combination of retired cop, real estate developer, professional MMA fighter, and guy wearing an ankle bracelet.

-Jacob, Maine

The bathroom at Cookies on Myrtle Ave. This is where I’ve conversed with God, learned my friend’s sexuality, kissed ketamine, bonded with a friend group, made out with a girl and a boy, hid from the crowd, and even used the bathroom.  

-Brennan, Brooklyn

There’s this family restaurant in Gainesville called The Clock. A very old guy with a walking stick greets you at the door and takes you to one of the empty-booths. The coffee doesn’t take more than a couple of minutes to arrive, and the blonde, middle aged waitress with a raspy voice quickly places it on the paper placemat that has a colorful image of the Florida Peninsula on it. Unlike those hipster coffee shops, you can drink the coffee there for hours on end and never get that uneasy, jittery feeling that comes from excess caffeine, but it does make you pee a lot. Everyone seems to be doing their thing. The eldest and loneliest people sit and eat in the bar stools and look so serene and Zen-like, unaware of their sciatica, usually reading a newspaper they get from who-knows-where. Smoking is not permitted, though.-

-Juan, Florida

Boston Common Garden. Love walking around day and night. Day for its natural spring beauty, and night for its still and romantic vibe as the gas light lamps light up the remaining lovers sitting on benches embracing each other.

-Davis, Boston

This is in part aspirational, but I’d like churches to be third places for young people the way they are for retired boomers. Like, what are you up to on a Tuesday? “Just helping out at the church.” Are you an underemployed millennial or a zoomer who didn’t finish college? You should help out on a Tuesday. You should come have an instant coffee and shoot the shit with Ramón the Sexton and iron linens and pray the noon office and run something to the post office and help an old lady get to the curb for car service and help make community dinner in the undercroft kitchen. It might contribute to your holiness but it’d also probably just help with your depression.

-Rev. Spencer, Queens