be nice to your barista

i've been going to the same starbucks now for over a year. it is located directly across the street from my office, usually has a line out the door, and is WAY too small to be the only starbucks in a ten block radius. usually i see the same people in there everyday, barring an additional patron or two (or five--they travel in packs, you know). generally everyone is patient, mild tempered and keeps to themselves.

this morning was the exception. now, i've worked customer service in a busy grocery store. i know what people can be like. but to be a barista is to put yourself in the way of people who haven't had their morning coffee. that's a dangerous place to be. i'm barely awake when i saunter in and find that i'm thankful that they know what i'm drinking and can get it started so that i don't have to say it. putting words together is hard before that first sip. but this morning...man. i've witnessed some pretty harsh people - but this woman was the worst. i didn't hear what she ordered, but the moment she started complaining i turned off my ipod (kept my earbuds in so that she wouldn't look to me for complainers comfort) and began to listen to the drama unfolding before me...

there was some issue about her drink being the wrong size. did they size it down and give her a grande instead of a venti? NO. they gave her a VENTI instead of a grande. she got upsized. for no extra charge. any decent human being would gloat in that fact and grab their cup and run. but not her. no sir. no way. she proceeded to reem out my lovely baristas for no reason. so they remade her drink (aka poured it into a grande cup). but this was not good enough. she wanted them to REMAKE it. and they did. but i left before that transpired.

i didn't realize how much i liked my baristas until that woman started being mean to them. they're just trying to make your coffee. and pay their bills. be nice to them. they control your drink. if you die of arsenic poisoning...you'll know it's because the barista doesn't like being spoken to like an incompetent 4 year old. im just sayin...