partner purgatory

yesterday i was lucky enough to work with both the talker and bitter old dude.
how surprised do you think i was to find they both HATE each other.
not only did they banter back and forth, they each would try and pull me aside to tell me just how annoying the other one was.

it started off with bitter old dude complaining (yet again) about how little he gets paid and how bux could easily afford to give everyone a two dollar raise. then the talker felt the need to chime in and with his thoughts - which were pretty much the same as bitter old dude's.

the talker: "you know, i do my job well and all my customers love me. you'd think starbucks would appreciate the fact that we baristas are the ones that keep the customers coming back."
bitter old dude: "customers don't come back because of you - they come back because of their addictions! the fact that we have to deal with them all day long should be reason enough to give us more money."
tt: "i agree - "
bod: "no you don't! you just said people come to starbucks because of you. I was the one that pointed out the fact we're just caffeine peddlers - not YOU!"
tt: "it's not just for the caffeine. if they wanted caffeine they could go anywhere. the reason they keep coming back to our store is because of the great service i give them."
bod: "you are so naive."
tt: "you are! starbucks isn't going to give us any more money so you should stop complaining."
bod: "i should stop complaining? what about you? you're the one who feels under appreciated, although i have no idea why."
tt: "that's because you don't care about customer service. ever since i was sixteen i've worked in food service and i deserve a pay raise for the expertise i bring with me."

i wish i could tell you the conversation stopped there, but no. it went on and on and on and on. when bitter old dude went on his lunch break, the talker felt the need to plead his case to me. when the talker went on his break, bitter old dude decided to list everything he hated about the talker.
i can't even imagine what the two of them said about me when i took my lunch.

barista rant: why do you ask me twenty questions about our frappuccino lights only to decide that you will instead order the full fat, extra whipped cream version? obviously the calorie count isn't that important to you, so why waste my time (and the time of the people behind you in line) if you're just going to order what you order every single day anyway?