floor, meet latte.
it happens at least every other day, if not multiple times within a day. someone got a little excited, a little careless or a little clumsy and dropped their freshly made drink all over the floor. whether it's iced, ice blended, or steamed, it's at some point been spilled, launched or squeezed so hard the contents no longer remain in the cup.
it happens. and although annoying during a rush, it's something we baristas expect to happen every shift.
most the time the customers are very apologetic and even help clean their mess up. other times they are only concerned with how fast their drink will be remade. and occasionally they don't even bother to tell us about the mess and just walk out the door. how obnoxious does one have to be to not even inform a barista about a wet floor that can be a potential hazard?
well, it happens. more often than this barista brat likes.
i once was walking in to my bux, getting ready to start my shift and witnessed one of these socially stunted people drop his cup, kick it across the floor, then step over the mess and walk right out the store. i picked up the remains of his cup, ran out the store and firmly placed it in the guy's hand. "here, i think you forgot this," i told him, then went to start my shift (my first task, of course, being to clean up the jerk's mess).
accidents happen. we know that and we don't get pissy because of it. we get bratty when someone "accidentally" leaves their brains at home and doesn't act with common decency.
barista rant: how cheap are you people? it only costs 55 cents for an add shot. why do you (on practically a daily basis) return to me with the lame line: "um, this doesn't taste as strong as it usually does. can you put more espresso in?" yeah, it's not as strong because you keep getting free add shots. if your addiction has increased from two shots to three, guess what? you have to pay for it. if your piggy bank can't handle the extra 55 cents, then you seriously need to rethink your beverage choice (among other things).
5 comments:
that was a beautiful and bold move, picking up the cup and placing it in the jerk's hand. nice touch. most people wouldn't have the guts.
A question:
Being a discerning expresso drinker yourself, can you taste a real difference between regular and decaf expresso?
Also, I'm trying to figure out that beer from Cafe Moto in Brooklyn...
ale8one - i've actually done that trick a couple times before this (once at a different place of business). it never gets old.
robb - i can taste the difference between a shot pulled with espresso and a shot pulled with italian roast (we use that when we run out of espresso - ssshhh!) but i can't tell between decaf and regular. caffeine has never affected me, so i've never ordered a decaf coffee for myself (my bf is a different story).
and thanks for the beer update. if you are interested in belgian beer, i can name quite a few!
b - i can't believe mr. refill still doesn't get it. you should keep someone's old, used cup and when he wants another cup, give him the gross one. tell him it's an official refill cup! why is he so sweaty so early?
Good going on giving that idiot back his cup!
I have to say i've been quite lucky so far in that i've only had one latte spillage on my shift (it involved the latte flying out of a womans hand straight at the food display, with latte pouring down the glass. Thank god there was glass to protect the muffins and other various food products). But I have experienced a number of water spillages by young children and the mothers don't usually bother telling me or any of my Starbucks 'partners' either.
heyz, i just found your site and i'm from msia. the customers and the "my dirnk is not strong enough with caffeine" thing seem to be universal eh? i got one fat lady customer who does that to my store too, always tall latte and remark it with less milk more coffee. what i did later was give her less than quarter but a bit more than half of steam milk with 1 shot, and since tht it's tall i just pull the shot longer for the second time than giving her another shot which i could use for another customer.
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