Is it better to be late to the party or stay in your comfy, cosy place? On a flight to Stockholm this week, I read an interview with restaurateur Keith McNally that was pegged to his just released memoir, I Regret Almost Everything. I’ve spent many an evening at Odeon (when it was under his watch) and plenty of meandering lunches and lingering dinners at his buzzy Balthazar, and while I don’t gravitate to the biographies corner at Daunt Books, there’s something about McNally’s knack for running a hospitality operation that makes me want to dive in. I was intrigued to read about how, after a stroke that has impaired his voice and forced him to shift from being right-handed to left-handed (fun fact: I went in the other direction), he found that Instagram gave him a whole new voice. As Insta-avoidance is a running theme in both my life and the life of Monocle, I want to read about how he’s done it. That said, I won’t be jumping onto Meta channels any time soon. It’s more fun tapping this out for a Sunday morning and messaging on the Swiss-made, ultra-exclusive Threema. Number of chat friends? Two.

Speaking of Meta, it’s been hilarious to watch all of these “boycott Made in America” Facebook groups spring up in well-meaning nations like Denmark and the Netherlands. Where do these people think Meta comes from? Do they think it might be European? Mark Zuckerberg a German living in a large villa on Hamburg’s Alster? Come on people, Guten Morgen! For starters, real “Made in the USA” products should be heartily supported. Talk to any company that still makes shoes in the US and you will hear a story of pain and suffering as it’s difficult to find apprentices – the concept is foreign in the US and the customer doesn’t place a premium on a product made within the 50 states. In the meantime, Europe should work harder at building its own digital powerhouses. Why don’t all Monocle readers set up a mass chat on Threema?

Fear not, Europe does have a few powerhouses in its arsenal and, in case you missed it, Zara just turned 50. While I’ve never purchased anything from the Spanish retailer, I am a big fan of Zara Home (they need to make more products in Europe though) and its upmarket cousin Massimo Dutti. While many cite logistics and supply-chain mastery as being crucial to the company’s success, one particular attribute struck me as being even more integral to its dazzling growth while on a recent tour around its exceptional HQ outside A Coruña – it’s a monoculture. Sit in meetings, wander the halls and chat to staffers working in various parts of the business and you soon realise that the company is not so much Spanish as Galician. Instead of meeting talented people drawn from Madrid or Valencia, many are from Pontevedra, Vigo and Ferrol. “Much of our success comes down to the fact that we’re all from the same place, so people understand the codes and there’s no such thing as ‘lost in translation,’” explained someone from the housewares business. It’s an interesting case study in the power of efficiency driven by shared cultural capital.

And before I leave you to connect with my next flight (destination Manama), a small thanks to the maître de cabine in charge of my Swiss flight up to Stockholm Arlanda. Despite a two-hour delay and multiple gate changes, here was a woman (initials SK), who turned everything around with humour, warmth and a general sense of levity – useful at 38,000 feet above the Baltic. She was also a stunning example of why you need people in charge who have life experience and the confidence to interact with young and old. 

Happy Sunday dear reader.