today i witnessed one of the sweetest things ever in a bux.
a boy, about eleven or twelve years of age, came into my bux in his sunday best (even though today is saturday). he looked a little nervous as he came up to the counter. in fact, he kind of stumbled over his words as he shifted uncomfortably in his patent leather shoes.
boy: "um, hi. uh, excuse me?"
barista brat: "hi, is there a drink i can get started for you?"
boy: "uh, yeah - wait, um, not right now, but uh, i have a question."
barista brat: "sure, what's your question?"
he took a deep breath and asked me his question, rapid fire.
boy: "yes-uh-hi-um-my-grandma-is-going-back-to-england-and-she-gave-me-a-starbucks-card-and-uh-i-wanted-to-pay-for-an-afternoon-tea-but-i-don't-know-where-to-do-that-so-i-came-here-is-that-ok?"
barista brat: "you want to treat your grandma to afternoon tea?"
boy: "yeah, can you do that?"
after checking how much he had on his starbucks card (thirty bucks!) the boy picked out different pastries he wanted to serve his grandma. he informed me that he wanted to bring her to bux in the early afternoon and if it was possible to have the pastries on plates and the tea served in ceramic mugs (alas, bux does not have real tea cups). he paid for the tea and pastries in advance and then went home to have his grandmother walk with him back to bux.
unfortunately my shift was over before they came back but i can't wait to hear how his mini-americanized-afternoon tea was with his grandma.
partner rant: i'm on my break. i have my nose buried in a book. i have my earbuds in - so why do you feel the need to keep interrupting my break to tell me idiotic things i have no interest in?!? there is nothing about my manner that cries out "COME BUG ME ON MY HALF HOUR BREAK! IGNORE THE EARBUDS AND THE BOOK - PLEASE TALK MY EAR OFF ABOUT THINGS THAT HAVE NO VALUE OR INTEREST TO ME!" so why do you insist on tapping me on the shoulder to tell me that when you drink soy milk you get a tummy ache? even when i inform you (as politely as possible) that i'm trying to read, you still want to chat! pick up on the body and verbal language - leave me alone!
18 comments:
AWWWWWww, that is the cutest/sweetest thing I've heard of in a long time. What a great kid. I hope his tea went well.
Awww! What a nice kiddo!
I'm sure his grandmother is proud of him, and cherishes that he did this just for her. That was really, really sweet!
Awww, I just can't get over how SWEET that is!
That kid is adorable.
As for your interruptions, I would suggest investing in a large pair of noise cancelling headphones. They send the message much more clearly that you wish to be left alone. I spend a lot of time reading and litening to music at my local bux and never get interrupted. People who know me and employees who recognize me alike can tell by my headphones that I want to be left alone. They can be expensive (mine were $100) but the peace and quiet is worth the investment.
Oh I am actually getting choked up! How sweet, how rare. I want a son just like that some day. OK, there goes a tear.
That is a great story. Ooh! Someone call Howard Schultz and tell him this could be his next venture: Starbucks tea rooms! Yeah!
What a rarity. Can't wait to see how it went. He must really love his grandmother. What a send off. Give us the details. I hope someone was watching them in your absence.
Oh my god that is the sweetest thing ever. To use a gift to bring joy to someone else is a rare talent, especially for a boy so young. I hope his grandmother realizes what a beautiful grandson she has.
She's a grandma, though, so of course she does.
That gave me the warm and fuzzies..what an absolutely beautiful post.
Thanks! :D
Don't you know that the more clearly you draw a circle around yourself the more the world will want to break through it?
i feel a case of the motherlies coming on.
damn estrogen.
so CUTE!
Sorry it's taken a while to get this comment in...
the new hot chocolate drink that we got (even though the weather doesn't reeeally suit it since it's so hot here all the time!) is kinda like an italian hot chocolate - very sweet and thick... comes with whip cream on top even though i don't have that cos that's toooo much.
ooh so good.
i'm looking forward to hearing about the report of the kid and his granny.
Aw! I'd definitely like to hear how that went.
BTW, unrelated note... In some browsers (Firefox,e.g.) words don't wrap at hyphens. So that long hyphenated question stretches off the edge of the page and through the "Previous Posts" links. You might want to put carriage returns in there (or leave it for unintentional comic effect). K
Oh that is sweet. You gotta find out how it went so you can tell us about it.
That's adorable! You must find out how it went!
mellowlee, ms. k, wide lawns, dj andi, liz, skippymom, thy, natalie, jennie gee - so, i was told that grandma was smiling and patting her grandson's hand the whole time. the boy bought even bought his grandma a clear starbucks mug to take back to london with her. and when they were finished the boy brought the plates and mugs to my fellow barista instead of leaving them on the table - can you believe that!
the pensive penguin - thanks for the earphones tip!
girl with moxie - a few year ago there was a lipton's tea house near my area, but i guess it wasn't that profitable because it went out of business :(
tom - lesson learned, haha.
marcus - is there a name for this special hot chocolate? we used to have a "drinking chocolate" called chantico, but we discontinued it, although i heard rumors that they will be back, in different flavors.
kiz - thanks for the heads up!
That's so sweet!
Awww, that is so awesome. :)
ooooooh Chantico! Gooooodness how I miss that!!!!
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