Be Nice To Your Baristas
While patiently waiting in an oddly long line for late-night coffee at Java House last night (needed a little kick to keep me up to see Gone Girl), my wee little Java Cooler order got lost in the shuffle.
No big deal — I’m in zero hurry, and I know they will get around to it when the rush settles.
The rush clears, and yet, still no Java Cooler has been called, so I go to check the counter (sometimes I don’t hear things — thanks for the genes, Mom), but still nothing. The barista asks what I need, and I nonchalantly say, “Oh, I ordered a Java Cooler about 5 minutes ago, I think it may have gotten lost.”
He proceeds to go into “Server Groveling Mode” (if you’ve worked in the service industry, you know it’s the most humbling, and also the most debasing feeling ever), and I quickly tell him not to be sorry — they had a late rush, and sometimes things get lost in the shuffle, really no big deal (because it’s NOT — it’s COFFEE, not the Cuban missile crisis).
He scurries to make my drink, puts it on the counter, and I smile and say thank you. As I move to add my mix-ins, he gets my attention. “She’s getting you a comp card. Hold on one second.”
I immediately begin to protest. “Please don’t do that. Really. It’s NOT a big deal. It happens! Save it for someone who needs it.” The girl insists, and shoves it toward me. Now I feel obligated, so I take it, and as I do, she relents, “You’re probably the nicest person about this ever.”
I smile, and elaborate, “I used to be a barista. I totally get it. Things get busy — it happened to me, too.” We chatted for a few minutes about the challenges that come with working in a place that caters to caffeine-addicted patrons lacking the patience to be understanding when mistakes happen. This isn’t always the case, but from my experience, rude customers occur more in a coffee shop than in a bar — an observation that makes me ponder philosophical questions about humanity.
I walked back to my seat with the comp card, and decided that I’d save it to pass along to another who could use a pick me up, as a way of paying it forward and quieting the nagging feeling of an uneccessary, though sweet, gesture.
This brings us to Bossy Boots Rule 1: Be nice to those who serve you.
This has been a commandment in my family for as long as I can remember. “Always tip your servers well, and be kind to them,” I remember my dad telling me when I was old enough to understand that working in a restaurant was a way of making a living, not just something that happened during playtime at school. It’s a rule I’ve goverened myself by since I started earning my own money, and it’s one that I adhere to unfalteringly. The service industry can be thankless and exhausting, and while the system professes “The customer is always right,” it’s important to remember that (as the customer) it isn’t all about you.
Be nice to those who serve you.
HBIC,
Bossy Boots
