Sometimes we serve the crazies and sometimes we serve the rich and famous (or the crazies with money).
On Tuesday I had back to back to back celebrities in my store.
There was a big convention across the street with about 10 big musical acts. The artists were kept a secret, but being a barista, I eventually found someone willing to tell me who was playing. Our store and the hotel next door were crawling with celebrities. Let me tell you about my 5 minutes that were saturated with celebrity sightings.
First, man came in who was obviously a rock star, with his long hair and tattoos. I made him his cappuccino and sent him on his way. I didn't know who he was, but after he left the shop, people were freaking out. He was lead singer of Slayer.
Less than 2 minutes later a familiar looking, very attractive man came in. I didn't find out until later that he was a member of the band Collective Soul. As I was handing him his 3 shots of espresso, I looked over his shoulder and saw our 3 new rookie NBA players walk by outside. He walks away and I hear a customer ask how to get to Target. I look over and see one of the winners of America's Next Top Model. She ordered chai tea and as she was waiting she checked out the basketball players who were speaking with fans outside the hotel. She didn't know who they were. I filled her in on their names and told her a little bit about them. Because I shared some info with her I got up the courage to ask her if she was indeed America's Next Top Model. She confirmed my suspicions and we chatted for a minute before she left to seek out the basketball players.
Maybe next week I'll open the newspaper to page six and see the model and the athlete looking cozy as they walk out of some LA restaurant. On second thought, I don't know if I even care to investigate. (Ok maybe I care a little.)
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
Did that just happen?
My coffee shop opens early (6am early) on weekdays and weekends. I have to be there at 5:30am. I had the privilege of opening this past Saturday. Weekday mornings bring in most of our regular customers from the offices and businesses in the area. Weekends are a different story.
This past Saturday, however, one crazy crossed the line.
She looked like your usual robust middle aged woman. The kind that likes to get up early and go for walks. She came up to the counter and asked for a glass of water.
[I should interject here and mention the we started giving out small water cups because we kept running out of iced cups for our customers iced lattes and have been getting complaints about the small free water we hand out.]
Most crazies are thankful for any amount of water and it breaks my heart that I can't give them a big cup. This lady however, was not so thankful. This is where I stop calling her a crazy, because a crazy wouldn't do what this lady did. She asked for a lot of ice in her cup, to which my coworker complied, but when she saw the size of the cup she demanded a larger glass. When she was told that this was the glass we used for water she threw the cup at my coworker. All he could say was "Really?" and then "next" to help our regular customer behind her. She proceeded to use some obscenities and then yelled, "Bye Nazis, bye Jew, bye Muslim (to the customer behind her in line who was wearing a hi jab), bye Satan worshipers, bye demons..." She trailed off as the door shut behind her. My coworker handled it so well. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it myself. I then promptly called our neighboring store to warn them that she might come to their shop next.
It is my coworkers last week before he heads back to school, and in 10 years off working in a coffee shop, I don't think he's ever had any drink thrown at him. I think it's safe to say that he's ready to leave.
The audacity of some people.
PS: Remember in my previous post how I mentioned that tips sometimes get stolen? Well it had never actually happened at a store I worked at. I had only heard about it from other baristas. But my store actually had tips stolen from them yesterday. Luckily it was only $5. The man just reached his hand in the jar, grabbed a fistful of money and walked out. My coworker witnessed the whole thing and he knew she was watching him. He held a conversation with her as he did it.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
The Science of Tipping
Baristas survive on tips. Luckily I work at a coffee shop that manages to bring in pretty good tips each week. I have worked at a coffee shop that had the highest customer volume in the area, yet managed to bring in the lowest tip averages. Many people I encounter outside of work often ask me how to know when to tip your barista. One friend in particular said that many times when he goes into a coffee shop the tip jar is nearly empty so he doesn't know if it is normal to tip. At my store we take out the money as it piles up because we don't want it to get STOLEN. Yes this does happen from time to time.
Generally, if you're just coming in to get coffee there is no need to tip. My personal opinion is that you should tip if you add some modifications, order many drinks at once, or if you are a regular (esp. if your barista has your drink memorized and it's ready when you walk in the door).
Many people seem to get confused about the little plastic box that sits next to the register. Mainly people thought of it as a take-a-penny/leave-a-penny jar, only it's filled with every coin imaginable and the occasional dollar bill. When a customer asked one of my fellow baristas if the tip jar was a take-a-penny/leave-a-penny jar the barista responded, "No. It's leave a penny. Period."
I got so fed up at the lack of tips at my former store that I constantly tried to think of creative ways to earn more tips. I was moved to act after a customer asked me what charity the money in the jar went to. "My bank account" and "Feed my Starving Baristas" were the responses that popped into my head. To clear up confusion, I wrote tips in plain letters on the jar, but was later scolded for soliciting tips. Hey, I was merely trying to let people know where the money went.
Many people deem it unnecessary to tip your barista. Let me ask you this then: When you go out to get a drink at the bar do you tip your bartender? Of course you do. So let me get this straight.... you tip your bartender (which you should) who provides you with a drink that makes your thoughts fuzzy and causes you to lose control of you actions. BUT...you won't tip your barista who provides you with a drink that clears your head and cause an increase in productivity? Think about it.
There are people who tell me they can't function without their coffee. Their drink of choice becomes ingrained into their daily routine. Which means when they are sitting up in their office, they come to a point where they can't stop thinking about their drink and they must have it before they continue working. This is part of the reason that people have morning and afternoon drinks. I used to solely work nights at my old store and knew many of the regulars drinks by heart. When I switched to mornings and saw the same customers I would make their drink once I saw them waiting in line. I was so proud to have it done and ready for them, but several times I was presented with the same response: "Oh, but that's my afternoon drink." Slap in the face.
My point is that if something is so necessary to your daily routine, why can't you pay an extra quarter or so for it? And yes, that extra change you have left over does make a difference, even if it is 10 cents or so. At one point the managers at my old store (the high volume one with dismal tips) did some math and figured out that if every customer gave us a quarter per drink ordered, our tips would quadruple. Ok so let's do some more math here. Say you order a drink that costs $4.00 (which a lot of people do). The standard tipping rate these days is 20% which would mean that you should tip 80 cents. All I'm asking for is 25 cents which is less than a third of what you should tip. Now when you go up to the bar and order a drink you probably lay down an extra dollar bill per drink, as you should. But shouldn't baristas get the same respect? Do you ever walk up to the bartender and order your drink like this: "Ummm ya, so I would like a medium 3 shots vodka, 2 pumps grenadine, half the sprite, 7 ice cubes vodka collins with 3 cherries." Ummm no. Your bartender would probably go "Are you kidding me?" But you come into my work everyday an expect that type of exactness without ever putting down a tip even though I smile and chat with you as I make it. Again I say, think about it.
There is a positive side to tipping. I have had people tip us merely to use our bathroom. I will also let you know that our best tippers aren't the rich businessmen, it's the bartenders at the bar across the street and the waitresses that work next door. It's the service industry people who know what it's like to serve people. I've got some great stories about the kindness I've seen from some customers and I hope to share them in the future. But now it's off to work for me.
Thanks for reading.
Many people seem to get confused about the little plastic box that sits next to the register. Mainly people thought of it as a take-a-penny/leave-a-penny jar, only it's filled with every coin imaginable and the occasional dollar bill. When a customer asked one of my fellow baristas if the tip jar was a take-a-penny/leave-a-penny jar the barista responded, "No. It's leave a penny. Period."
I got so fed up at the lack of tips at my former store that I constantly tried to think of creative ways to earn more tips. I was moved to act after a customer asked me what charity the money in the jar went to. "My bank account" and "Feed my Starving Baristas" were the responses that popped into my head. To clear up confusion, I wrote tips in plain letters on the jar, but was later scolded for soliciting tips. Hey, I was merely trying to let people know where the money went.
Many people deem it unnecessary to tip your barista. Let me ask you this then: When you go out to get a drink at the bar do you tip your bartender? Of course you do. So let me get this straight.... you tip your bartender (which you should) who provides you with a drink that makes your thoughts fuzzy and causes you to lose control of you actions. BUT...you won't tip your barista who provides you with a drink that clears your head and cause an increase in productivity? Think about it.
There are people who tell me they can't function without their coffee. Their drink of choice becomes ingrained into their daily routine. Which means when they are sitting up in their office, they come to a point where they can't stop thinking about their drink and they must have it before they continue working. This is part of the reason that people have morning and afternoon drinks. I used to solely work nights at my old store and knew many of the regulars drinks by heart. When I switched to mornings and saw the same customers I would make their drink once I saw them waiting in line. I was so proud to have it done and ready for them, but several times I was presented with the same response: "Oh, but that's my afternoon drink." Slap in the face.
My point is that if something is so necessary to your daily routine, why can't you pay an extra quarter or so for it? And yes, that extra change you have left over does make a difference, even if it is 10 cents or so. At one point the managers at my old store (the high volume one with dismal tips) did some math and figured out that if every customer gave us a quarter per drink ordered, our tips would quadruple. Ok so let's do some more math here. Say you order a drink that costs $4.00 (which a lot of people do). The standard tipping rate these days is 20% which would mean that you should tip 80 cents. All I'm asking for is 25 cents which is less than a third of what you should tip. Now when you go up to the bar and order a drink you probably lay down an extra dollar bill per drink, as you should. But shouldn't baristas get the same respect? Do you ever walk up to the bartender and order your drink like this: "Ummm ya, so I would like a medium 3 shots vodka, 2 pumps grenadine, half the sprite, 7 ice cubes vodka collins with 3 cherries." Ummm no. Your bartender would probably go "Are you kidding me?" But you come into my work everyday an expect that type of exactness without ever putting down a tip even though I smile and chat with you as I make it. Again I say, think about it.
There is a positive side to tipping. I have had people tip us merely to use our bathroom. I will also let you know that our best tippers aren't the rich businessmen, it's the bartenders at the bar across the street and the waitresses that work next door. It's the service industry people who know what it's like to serve people. I've got some great stories about the kindness I've seen from some customers and I hope to share them in the future. But now it's off to work for me.
Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Introduction
Warning: The contents of this cup are hot and the stories you are about to read are real.
You may find yourself yawning at the thought of reading a blog about a coffee shop, but you would be surprised at the characters you meet working in a coffee shop in the heart of a major downtown area.
I am a barista. What is a barista you may ask? Wikipedia defines me as, "one who has acquired some level of expertise in the preparation of espresso-based coffee drinks." I would like to expand this definition to include the following:
"one who has acquired some level of expertise in the preparation of espresso-based coffee drinks and utilizes the necessary talents of barista survival (including but not limited to: entertaining, life counseling, direction giving, weather forecasting, mind reading, pant stapling, selecting the biggest slice of coffee cake, and turning dollar bills into quarters) while wearing a smile and making sure you wash your hands."
I could probably add a hundred more talents to that list but i will keep it at that for now. My future posts will go into further detail on how I manage to utilize these talents on an almost daily basis.
I am a drug dealer, but my drug just happens to be legal. I have had people walk right up to the counter, roll up their sleeves and point to their arm asking, "can you just inject my coffee here." Others merely ask for their fix and extend a shaky hand grasping a form of payment. Once they receive their drink of choice they let out a sigh of relief and cradle it as if it were their own child or small dog. I have customers who come in 3-4 times a day, customers with morning drinks and afternoon drinks, and customers who cry when their favorite seasonal flavor runs out.
I should stop right here and say that I love my coffee and it's ok to love coffee or to not love coffee. I need caffeine to get me going most days. I also enjoy being a barista for the most part. The job has helped me fund my way through college and meet some pretty interesting people. I have met some of the rudest and most inconsiderate people on the planet, and some of the sweetest and most down to earth people as well. I have served rock stars, movie stars and pro athletes, college students and professors, police officers, criminals, business executives, cab drivers, bartenders, drunk people, high people, kids, dogs, and the homeless. Coffee enthusiasts provide me with some great writing material. I'm not the only one that is amused by my customers' quirks or shocked by their audacity. Sometimes after work I go out and grab an adult beverage with some of my fellow baristas. Once we start swapping work stories it is hard to get us to stop. Each story gets crazier than the next in an all out battle of one-uppers. It's nice to share these stories with people that get where you're coming from and understand service industry etiquette.
I may work in a coffee shop, but I'm sure similar incidents have happened to servers, valets and bartenders alike. I hope my fellow service industry workers can relate to some of these tales and find them amusing. And if you haven't ever worked behind a counter, I suggest you take some lessons from my experiences and realize the right and wrong ways to treat those who serve. It's amazing what some people consider to be socially acceptable.
You may find yourself yawning at the thought of reading a blog about a coffee shop, but you would be surprised at the characters you meet working in a coffee shop in the heart of a major downtown area.
I am a barista. What is a barista you may ask? Wikipedia defines me as, "one who has acquired some level of expertise in the preparation of espresso-based coffee drinks." I would like to expand this definition to include the following:
"one who has acquired some level of expertise in the preparation of espresso-based coffee drinks and utilizes the necessary talents of barista survival (including but not limited to: entertaining, life counseling, direction giving, weather forecasting, mind reading, pant stapling, selecting the biggest slice of coffee cake, and turning dollar bills into quarters) while wearing a smile and making sure you wash your hands."
I could probably add a hundred more talents to that list but i will keep it at that for now. My future posts will go into further detail on how I manage to utilize these talents on an almost daily basis.
I am a drug dealer, but my drug just happens to be legal. I have had people walk right up to the counter, roll up their sleeves and point to their arm asking, "can you just inject my coffee here." Others merely ask for their fix and extend a shaky hand grasping a form of payment. Once they receive their drink of choice they let out a sigh of relief and cradle it as if it were their own child or small dog. I have customers who come in 3-4 times a day, customers with morning drinks and afternoon drinks, and customers who cry when their favorite seasonal flavor runs out.
I should stop right here and say that I love my coffee and it's ok to love coffee or to not love coffee. I need caffeine to get me going most days. I also enjoy being a barista for the most part. The job has helped me fund my way through college and meet some pretty interesting people. I have met some of the rudest and most inconsiderate people on the planet, and some of the sweetest and most down to earth people as well. I have served rock stars, movie stars and pro athletes, college students and professors, police officers, criminals, business executives, cab drivers, bartenders, drunk people, high people, kids, dogs, and the homeless. Coffee enthusiasts provide me with some great writing material. I'm not the only one that is amused by my customers' quirks or shocked by their audacity. Sometimes after work I go out and grab an adult beverage with some of my fellow baristas. Once we start swapping work stories it is hard to get us to stop. Each story gets crazier than the next in an all out battle of one-uppers. It's nice to share these stories with people that get where you're coming from and understand service industry etiquette.
I may work in a coffee shop, but I'm sure similar incidents have happened to servers, valets and bartenders alike. I hope my fellow service industry workers can relate to some of these tales and find them amusing. And if you haven't ever worked behind a counter, I suggest you take some lessons from my experiences and realize the right and wrong ways to treat those who serve. It's amazing what some people consider to be socially acceptable.
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