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.

Saturday and Sunday bring us a variety of characters. The crazies as I like to call them. I know it must sound mean, but that is honestly the most accurate way to describe them. There is something a little off about them, but they are usually respectful and thankful. The crazies are usually homeless and enjoy a smoke or two from the comfort of our patio. Sometimes one crazy will go and sit at a table with another crazy. I like to imagine that it is the start of a great friendship. The type of endearing friendships that you find in movies. I imagine the conversations they are having and what type of adventure they will set out on once they leave our little patio to explore the world, or at least the downtown area.

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.