I spend a lot of time drinking coffee. As someone who works from home, practically the only other people I see all day are the kind folk who help feed my unhealthy addiction to caffeine. I decided to mix business with caffeine withdrawal tremors and ask them what things bug them the most.
I go to a lot of coffee shops. I’m not ashamed. Well, I’m a little ashamed, which is why I frequent so many different locations during the day. A lot of times, I try to land assignments that require me to go to these places so I have the excuse of, “Tee-hee, I’m totally just doing this for work, you guys,” which is why I decided to interview the baristas I know — which turns out to be an almost embarrassing amount — to find out what people like me do in coffee shops that drive them batty. That way, I could “work” and suck down countless cups of coffee, and also pass that knowledge on to the masses. You can take this information and use it to give your local barista a big, metaphorical hug by not being a huge jerk.
More:We ranked 9 Starbucks Frappuccino flavors so you don’t have to
These are actual quotes from former or current baristas, detailing the worst offenders:
1. “People who won’t get off of their f***ing cellphones.”
“This is just rude anywhere, but especially in a busy coffee shop. Your phone conversation can surely wait the two minutes it takes you to order and pay, and if you are going to be a jerk and stay on the line, you absolutely cannot get angry at the people behind the counter, who just want to take your order. They should be angry at you for being so uncivilized.”
2. “Anyone who doesn’t actually know what drink they’re ordering and then gets mad when we make it for them.”
So, if you’ve only ever been to a Starbucks (and I love me some Starbucks, so I’m not judging you), you might be surprised to learn that some of your favorite drinks are not what you think they are. The biggest offender is the caramel macchiato. If you order this in a place that isn’t Starbucks, you’re getting a very different, very strong drink. Same goes for ordering a Frappuccino or a “trenta” anything. If you don’t do your homework and then get mad at someone for making you an actual coffee, then maybe other coffee shops are not for you.
3. “I can’t stand the people who snap their fingers at me. I’m not a dog.”
Ew. I was sad to hear this, because I know the feeling. We don’t snap our fingers at people, guys.
4. “If you have time to make me make your drink four times, then you can’t possibly be running as late as you claim you are.”
“I’m more than happy to try and move people in and out quickly when they’re running late. But when people come in and bark about how late they are and then hang out for a half hour while we attempt to perform psychic tricks to figure out exactly how much mocha syrup is just right and dump drink after drink down the drain in pursuit of the magical ratio, we’re not going to believe you the next time you say you have a flight to catch ‘right now.’“
5. “People who want their steamed milk extra extra extra extra extra extra hot.”
“Actually, there’s nothing wrong with extra-hot milk. But every once in a while, someone wants their milk scorched and stinky and hot to the point of risking skin grafts. I worry for those people.”
6. “The [people] who wreck up the half-and-half station like they’re getting paid to do it.”
“Honey everywhere. Half-and-half splashed up against the windows. Coffee-soaked straw wrappers. Piles of sugar crunching underfoot. Why?”
More:Starbucks name generator predicts which misspelling will end up on your cup
7. “There’s always one person who grabs the wrong drink and screams at us for their mistake.”
“For instance, once, a girl ordered a pretty specific drink; let’s say it was a grande vanilla latte. We put up a totally different drink for someone else, with their name on it and everything. She grabbed it, took a sip and then screamed at us because it wasn’t her grande vanilla latte. Really? You thought we wrote ‘Kevin’ on that venti chai by accident? Unbelievable.”
8. “It’s a tip jar, not a place for you to pick up spare change.”
“Believe it or not, people have grabbed a dollar or whatever from the tip jar to help pay for their drinks.”
9. “People who need us to know that they really hate [name of the coffee shop they’re in]. Why are you here again?”
This barista didn’t elaborate, but I know this is true firsthand. Once I was behind a man in line who kept loudly referring to Starbucks as “Star-sucks” and wondered aloud to the poor barista if she even knew how to make real coffee. This was in downtown Austin, in a place where, if you threw a rock, you would have hit a small, local coffee shop.
More:Woman asked to leave coffee shop for wearing her gym gear
10. “Latecomers”
Latecomers suck in every corner of the service industry, but I bet it’s really confounding for baristas who have to pretend to laugh at how you “definitely won’t be able to sleep now!” while ordering a red-eye 10 minutes after closing.
11. “People who work from home and use us as a watercooler break/shameless trend piece.”
Very funny, guys.
Leave a Comment