147xxxx

I just saw one of my regulars on law and order!  I can’t wait to go back to work and tell her while I make her venti awake misto.

I fly back into the city on Thursday night and then open the store on Friday.  WELCOME BACK 147

Dear Coworkers

I understand that the triple grande 3 pump vanilla soy 4 (sometimes 5) packets of energy plus protein latte in the travel mug is an obnoxious drink to make - especially during the afternoon rush - because making it is such a process.

Putting the three pumps of vanilla into the mug is probably the easiest part, so once we get done with that, its all down hill.  Because I can’t simply tear open the energy packets (could we ever?) I have to look around for the scissors.  These are usually hiding either in a draw in the back room, next to the grinder, buried with pastry case stuff, or some place absolutly random.  Sometimes I feel that its more likely to find the Donner party in my Starbucks store than the scissors.  When - eureka! - I’ve found the scissors, there are usually only 3 energy packets behind the bar so I have to grab two from the back room.  After opening these terrible energy packets (not to be confused with tear-able energy packets), I add it to measured out cold soy in a steaming pitcher along with the clumpy protein powder.  It looks like something that one of these cats coughed up.  After stirred, it looks pretty much just like I how described, but stirred.  Then a million years later, I steam the milk while I pull three shots into the shot glass.  (Not straight into the travel mug because it is juuust big enough to not fit under the espresso machine)  Then I finish like I would with a normal latte and pass up the travel mug.

A bunch of baristas don’t have the drink memorized and feel that since its in a travel mug they can’t write it down, so this already can cause an issue.  And I admit that this would probably be easier if the energy packets/scissors were more organized, but… whatever

About a month ago a coworker of mine was on bar and I was on register when this guy came in during a busy afternoon.  My coworker kind of flipped out.  Maybe because of the line of drinks she had or because I called the drink out to her and handed the travel mug.  She started mumbling how crazy this drink was under her breath as she buzzed around me to find the scissors.  When she finally passed it up, he took a sip and opened up the lid.  “Uhm, sorry, this is clumpy.  I don’t think you made it right.”  She looked up at him and started to pull an attitude, saying that there are a lot of powders in it so you can’t blame her, and she made it right.  Then he tells her that he gets it all of the time.  She looked over at me with panic/desperation, and I calmly said to her “hey, how about we switch.”  She obviously took me up on the offer.

I slid over on bar, clarified the drink with him, and tried to make it all light hearted, saying that I’m mixin it all up right now.  He leaned over the bar saying he was sorry, and that he gets it all of the time and that one didn’t taste right.  Gosh, I felt terrible watching him feel guilty about the whole drama.  I really wanted to say “you’re totally right, and she was wrong!”  But decided that I shouldn’t and said something like “if it didn’t taste right, then we’re happy to remake it for you - don’t worry at all.”  When I finished, I apologized again and said that I’d see him soon.

A few minutes later when we’d slowed down a bit, she said to me “god, can you believe that guy?!”

uhm… excuse me?  I can’t believe you

This guy comes in once or twice a week, orders the drink, and pays the $8 dollars for it.  He’s never complained about having to wait around while I look for scissors.  And he’s never complained as I press the buttons on the register adding on the extra shot, the protein, the energy packet, the energy packet, the energy packet, the energy packet.  And he’s a cool dude.  The extremely sad thing is that this isn’t the first time I’ve seen a partner get openly annoyed with this dude.

So dear dear deeaar coworkers, when you are rude to someone who is nice, paying for what they want, waiting even if it all takes a little longer, you look ridiculously stupid.

Quit it.  You are embarrassing me and yourself.

loooooooooove,

147xxxx

CHAI FRIDAYS!!!!

If its the first time you’re coming into starbucks and we have a rush of customers, it will be overwhelming.  You heard it was a coffee place, and when you walk in there everyone’s yelling mocha-macchiato-venti-breve-ccino.  It can be a bit crazy.

So when I got a customer a few months ago who looked really stressed, I was extra calm when I was getting his order.  He looked down at a post it, looked up to me, and then back to the post it: “er.. chai.  four. yeah, four chai. small”  I smiled, “Do you know if you want the chai tea latte - with our chai concentrate and steamed milk - or the chai tea - like with the tea bag?  He looked back at the paper and tells me that one of them is with whole milk… and then admits that he doesn’t know what he’s doing.  I tell him since one of them sounds like a chai latte, we’ll make them all chai lattes, and asked if that was cool.  He said that it was fine.

When he got his drinks, he found that it wasn’t what he wanted.  He wanted them with the tea bags.  He tells this to the person on bar, and the person on bar kind of had an attitude with him “Sir, that’s what you ordered, and that’s what we made.”  Ugh, c’mon, coworker.  I felt so bad that my coworker was making him feel bad, especially since it was probably myself who misguided him.  I stepped in and let him know that I must have misunderstood.  I checked again for what he wanted, and we came to the conclusion that he wanted a tall whole milk chai tea misto and 3 tall chai teas.  Good thing we had enough people on the floor, because I slid from my expediting spot to help out this guy.  I quickly gave him a refund, got his drinks together in a tray with drink stoppers/splash sticks.  He thanked me a lot, and I said it was the least I could do since I got it a bit wrong the first time (and I had to make up for my short tempered coworker).

The next week when I was expediting the line during the afternoon rush, I saw him in line “are you getting the four chais?”  He told me that I was actually right last week, everyone wanted chai lattes.  I laughed, and said I have him covered.  So we get his four chais ready, and I put them in a carrying try with splash sticks and send him on his way

A few Fridays later before this customer walked out the door with his drinks, I say that I’ll see him next week.  He said “oh yeah! Chai Fridays!”

Chai Fridays!  How amazingly great and cute is that!?  The next week I asked him about Chai Fridays, and he told me that him and his coworkers celebrate the end of the week by him going out to get everyone chais!  I love that so much.  I’m so happy to take part in someone’s end of the week celebration.  This past week he gave me his card, and I found that he’s an awesome photographer who’s taken some pretty chill Obama pictures.

Now when he come in all of us behind the counter go “CHAI FRIDAY!!!!”

Yesterday morning, I opened at 5am.  It wasn’t that bad; my coworker and I were in good moods aka we had our espresso before we unlocked the doors.  I was alone on the floor when our first customer came in.  I gave her a big smile and a calming not too peppy because its really god damn early ”heyy, good morning, how are you?”  She gave me a blank stare for a few seconds before she said “venti extra hot whole milk latte and venti breve cappuccino.”  Alright, I understood that it was early and she hadn’t had her coffee yet so I didn’t mind that she disregarded my question.  I suppose she didn’t have to answer it because I can use my killer insight to infer based on her demeanor that she was both tired and bitchy.

So we finish up the financial business, and as I go over to bar to make her drinks she goes over to the condiment bar to set down the three or four bags she’s carrying.  I finish her first drink and before I can start the final word of “venti whole milk extra hot latte” she interrupts me.  ”Wet. Make it more wet.”  (to put it simply: dry = more foam/less milk, wet = more milk/less foam) She doesn’t even look up from rearranging her things from the other side of the room to yell me this.  … uhm… what?  Now, if she pick up the cup and it felt a little lighter than it should, I would understand her requesting it more wet, but she didn’t pick it up.  If she took of the lid and saw it was… i don’t know, extra foamy, I would get her wanting it more wet.  However, she didn’t look at it.   If she took a sip and it was not milky enough, her request wouldn’t be so crazy, but she didn’t taste it!  Damn, I’ve never even made a drink for her before.  The only way a latte can be “more wet” is if there’s no foam, and she didn’t say no foam.  I mean, basically she was assuming based on absolutely nothing that I made it too foamy and not correct.  Way to grind my gears first thing in the morning.

I retract the latte from the handoff counter and removed the lid.  Looking down at the drink I wondered how I could make it more wet.  I decided to keep the thin layer of foam on. I was going to attempt adding more milk, but there physically wouldn’t be any place to put it since there were 20oz of liquid in that cup.  I looked back at her with her best friends the condiment bar and her many bags.  She then grabbed a giant handful of splenda and threw it in one of the bags.

This is when I decide that her drink is just wet enough as it was, so I put the lid back on.  ”venti whole milk extra hot… extra… wet… latte.”

I quickly finish up the other drink and call it out to her.  Before heading out the door, she picks up the first drink and without looking my way says “that’s better.”

HAVE A GREAT DAY, MA’AM!

After her we had this older guy come in.  He was really friendly ordering a coffee and a raspberry scone.  When he mentioned that he was a starbucks shareholder, I wanted to say “ah, sheesh sorry about that,” but he told me that he’s not going to sell it because its going up again - because of our smiling faces.  He said that he was the most upset about the economy because it makes starting a life and a home harder for young people.  He said that he doesn’t care if his home looses half of its value, as long as we can afford homes.  He then told us that things are bound to get better and to have a beautiful beautiful morning.  What an awesome guy to cancel out such an obnoxious previous customer