The Java Hut is a coffee-providing establishment in Worcester, MA. I just turned 25 and have probably been going there on and off since i was 13. In fact, when i was a young foolish person i spent a lot of time there because young people left to their own devices in rural areas end up gravitating to places like this. I have a lot of interesting memories associated with the place, and know that it served the same function for other young people that it served for me growing up. It also is the seat of the area's slam poetry scene, and the general hangout for people in their twenties who have gotten stuck in the post-industrial wasteland of Worcester.

I found out recently that they are closing their doors due to a lot of debt, no doubt a product of the insular nature of the culture surrounding the place. While i must admit that i'm not exactly distraught, i am somewhat saddened that another fixture of the always-decaying Worcester landscape will soon have died. When i went in right before posting my annotation there were regulars inside talking about how it won't die, somebody will pick it back up again from the current owner, and that it will all be ok. Some of the regulars even talked about buying the place just to preserve it. Despite that, it may be the last days of a place ingrained in my psychological landscape and figured i could play into the feelings of others who have the same association with the establishment. Therefore, my overly romanticized annotation...a benediction to the dying really:

Here lays the dying, slowing juggernaut of caffeine and culture for the dispossessed of Worcester, the Java Hut. May her followers wrench her from the dead once her laborious breathing has ceased.

When i posted it a man was standing outside a smoking. He had the appearance of the kind of guy who might shatter your teeth with a lead pipe, and then smooth over his coat and tie to make sure he still looked presentable, but didn't particularly give me any trouble. After i walked away i saw him reading the note, but when i was pulling out of the parking lot he seemed to be concentrating on his cigarette again.