The Queen Mother of All Starbucks Experiences

The Macy’s on 34th Street has at least 3 Starbucks on different floors throughout the building. On Sunday we made our way to the 7th floor to look at towels. Don’t fall asleep on me hearing about such mundane Sunday afternoon activities. We also bought a pitcher, so it really got crazy.  But  to stay awake we made our way over to the Starbucks counter for a mid-afternoon caffeine jolt. We spent way too much time waiting in line behind two women who did not understand the Starbucks lingo. No, you can’t just add hot decaf coffee to an iced latte and expect to stay iced. And yes, a tall is the small one. It doesn’t make sense. But that’s just the way it is. Sorry folks, if you don’t like it, please make your way to the McCafe.

But these verbal affairs with the cashier allowed us to spend time observing the barista who decided she was not enjoying her day. First, we looked over to see that she had stopped at not one, but two other food stops in the store to pick up her afternoon treats.

She then took the treats and dumped them into the non-fat milk steamer pitcher to mix them together. By this point the people in front of us had ordered, but she was intent on mixing up her own dessert. She tasted it, but the concoction was not to her liking. This is when she spit the brownie in her treat back into the Non-Fat milk jug.

I used to drink water out of a hose. I’ve eaten lots of street food on a stick. And I’ve survived the late-night Taco Bell menu. But when you go to Starbucks you don’t anticipate seeing a woman pull her best mama-bird impression and regurgitate her afternoon confections into a milk steamer.  My not-so-gentle disposition officially lost it.

By this time we reached the cashier who had not seen the counter offense. “Hi there. How are you today?” he asked. “Sick” I instinctively, and probably a little dramatically replied. I then recounted the story of what had happened. He stood there in disbelief and a little flustered. Once we got our coffee he turned to Milkshake Barfer and whispered to her. She turned and asked, “Who said that? Who? He needs to mind his own damn business.” We walked away and wondered if that had really just happened. The poor guy behind the counter encouraged his co-worker to finish her snack around the corner.  She shot us a look that I took to mean we should not come back to the towel Starbucks anytime soon.

In the wake of Domino’s You Tube catastrophe, it’s a sad fact that brands are in the hands of thousands of workers who ask, “what can I get you today?” And with the advent of the Internet, we the consumers are more than happy to let mega-brands know that their customer service training programs and hiring practices could use an extra shot.