behind the bar

You Know You're Asian When...

You can probably tell from the title that this post is not the insightful one I was promising... but fear not, that one is imminent. Today's note is one that I've been meaning to write for a while, but simply never got around to.

There are a lot of Asian (read: Chinese) people that come to my 'bux... I suppose it's expected, given the neighbourhood we're in. Here are a few of the more memorable customers I've served in recent weeks... because you just can't deny you're Asian when:

1. You ask for a 'gwandy baw.'
Two, in fact... she wanted two gwandy baws. I really had to bite my tongue to fight back the giggles with her... it's just that this woman wasn't even TRYING to say the words correctly. I get it, people have accents... I'm pretty sure I do too when I speak Cantonese... but come on, at least try?! 

2. You fight to pay.
But actually, these two men were coming close to physical blows. They were each trying to block the other... nay, they were practically climbing onto the counter... all whilst shoving FIVES in my face. I already find it pretty funny when my relatives battle it out to pay for a 10-course Chinese dinner (and that usually comes with a pretty hefty price tag)... but really, fighting to pay $3.78 for two tall Pikes? For real?? Like they were FIGHTING. If you're Chinese, you know what I'm talking about. It's actually kind of embarrassing to watch because it sometimes gets pretty violent... which it kind of did. These two almost knocked over a tiny old (Caucasian) lady who was trying to count her change at the other till. Sigh.

3. You bring your own KETTLE.
This was the most unbelievable and hilarious of all. Two women came in and asked for three grande Veronas (if I'm honest, she actually called them grandy Veronas.) When we asked if they needed a tray, one of them pulled an electric kettle out of her purse. 

BUT ACTUALLY, people.

She put it on the counter between our tills, pulled the lid off and shamelessly asked us to put the coffee in there. 

:O !

... was my actual facial expression. 

My SM thought it was brilliant (don't ask) and I'm pretty sure he filled that kettle up with more than 48 oz of Verona... but whatever. That's what I rang her up for. They were halfway back to their car before one of them returned and asked for a tall cup... so she could bring some cream home.

.....  -______-"

On a completely unrelated note... a (non-Asian) woman came in today and asked if we were still giving out free coffees every Thursday. I told her I'm pretty sure we didn't ever do that (what kind of capitalist monstrosity would Starbucks be if we did??) and went on to explain that we only did it last Thursday, for Earth Day, and that the coffee was only free if you brought a tumbler. She seemed displeased with my explanation... and then asked if anything in our pastry case was sugar-free.

HAVE YOU SEEN OUR PASTRY CASE???

Enough said. See you at 'bux!

OMGT!

Oh my green tea! :O

I know, this post is WAY overdue... it's been a busy few weeks with back-to-back 5:30 am starts and 8+ hour shifts... so please forgive me. Today's post is a short one, just to tide you over... I promise that a longer (and much more insightful) post will soon be on its way!

So back to my tea ordeal...

Last night, I visited a certain 'bux as a customer (not my own store) and tried to order the drink I have been somewhat obsessed with: an unsweetened Orange Mango Black Tea (OMBT). It seemed to be a fairly quiet evening at this 'bux and I didn't have to wait long for my drink. The barista-on-till quickly punched in my partner number and after forking over some change (figuratively, of course... I use an auto-reloading Starbucks card, obvs! ;) I spotted my iced grande unsweetened OMBT sitting on the hand-off counter.

And then everything went seriously downhill.

As I reached for my OMBT, I noticed that the outside of the cup was all wet. Barista-on-bar had been overzealous with the filling of my cup... and it had runneth over, in a bad way. You know when you get a drink that's so full you can't get a straw in without spilling it out the top? This was just like that... except minus the straw part. There was orange mango oozing out the top just as it sat there on the hand-off counter.

I said a very sincere thank you to the barista-on-bar nevertheless... but she ignored me. Oh wells. I grabbed a straw and tried not to lose too much more of my drink as I pushed it through the lid... I was determined to enjoy my OMBT even if the barista that made it had bad attitude! I sipped happily as I began to walk away... and then stopped dead in my tracks.

There was no tea in my OMBT. It was just juice... and the cup was chock-full of ice.

Sidebar. An orange mango black tea is made by pouring orange mango juice, black tea and ice into a shaker, shaking vigorously and then pouring the contents (neatly!) into a cup for the customer. Lid it, call the drink, place the cup on the hand-off counter with a straw, smile, thank you and have a great day! :) And that's how it's done.

We've already established that this barista had failed to pour neatly and didn't ask me to have a nice day. Now, it seemed she had also forgotten to pour tea into the shaker. And then she compensated for it by putting in twice as much ice. Ummmmmmm.... FOR REAL?!

As a customer, I was upset because I didn't get the drink that I ordered. As a partner, I was FURIOUS because it was clear this store has very low standards. I marched back to the hand-off and politely asked for half the ice to be removed and for my cup to be topped off with black tea.

My requests were met with a frosty stare. For a second I was really afraid about what I was going to get back in my cup. Then I remembered, both as a customer and as a partner, that I was really doing NOTHING out of the ordinary. Our mandate at 'bux is that "Your drink should be perfect, every time. If not, let us know and we'll make it right." Not only do I believe that, I live by it when I'm at work! 

My OMBT came back to me with a new lid, no spillage and the proper amount of ice. So far, so good. I grabbed a new straw and took a sip, and... OMGT!!! >:( They had topped it up with green tea!

I'm sure there are some of you out there who are thinking... chill out, what's wrong with green tea, it's good for you anyway, etc, etc. That's just not the point! I have nothing against green tea... in fact, I love the iced Zen tea we use at 'bux, it's particularly delicious mixed with apple juice or lemonade! :9 It's just that I didn't want Zen tea last night... I wanted black tea with my orange mango. That's what I paid for. That's what was marked on the side of my cup. It's by NO means a difficult or complicated drink to make. Why couldn't I just get my OMBT? And why did she have such bad attitude? >:"(

In the end, I settled for the OMGT... it was still good. Apart from being a great Customer Voice story, the greater lesson for me was the reminder that a drink should always be well made. If I wouldn't be happy to receive it, I shouldn't be happy to hand it off. This unfortunately lends some perspective to my attitude towards Ms. Venti Six-Pump Raspberry Nonfat No-Whip 190° Mocha... who, I must tell you, has begun visiting my store on a daily basis again after a wonderful hiatus.

Until next time... see you at 'bux! :)

Why???

Why on earth would you come up to my till and hand me a fist full of change without first telling me what you ordered? Why do you stare expectantly back at me when I ask you what your order was? Why would you presume that I'll somehow magically know what you said to the expediting barista? Do we look like we're the same person? Did you see us exchange words? Honestly. What exactly do you expect me to do with your money?

Also... no, you cannot "just take some change" out of the tip jar to help finance your beverage. It's the TIP JAR!

Today was an otherwise great day behind the bar. Hope the rain will keep the crowds at bay for the rest of the week... :P

See you at 'bux!

TGIT

Thank goodness it's Thursday. Thank goodness it's a long weekend!

Today is April 1st, meaning I've been at 'bux for exactly a month! I wish I could say I've loved every minute of it, or that today was an awesome day behind the bar... but the truth is, it wasn't. Today was crap! :( I won't go into details... but here's the icing on top of my horrible cake. It had been a mad rush on and off all day... and during one such rush, these two girls (who could not possibly have been older than 16) show up at my till to pay for their drinks. 

Backgrounder required. During rushes, baristas will usually stay planted at the register or on bar while an expediter marks cups and shuttles back and forth to help grab items from the pastry case, coffee/tea and warming stations. This allows the line (and everyone's orders) to be processed and filled as quickly as possible. Since ringing customers through usually takes longer than getting the beverage ordered/started (people have to type their PIN for debit, reload their Starbucks Cards, dig around for change, etc.), there's usually a bit of a wait/backlog at the registers. The expediter will usually tell a barista-on-till what orders are coming up, especially if it involves brews/pastries that are handed off at the counter next to the register before the items are rung up. It's not uncommon for there to be three or four cups next to the registers in a queue, waiting to be paid for and then picked up. If you frequent a 'bux during the AM or lunch hours, you will familiar with the drill... n'est pas?

So, back to the two girls. Apparently, only one of them had placed a beverage order with the expediting barista... the other one was only along for the ride... but this being a mad rush and with so much action going on, I (the barista-on-till) had no idea who had ordered how many of what. The last thing I heard was the expediter telling me that I had a grande Komodo Dragon and a tall Pike coming up. So, after giving change back to the last customer, I glance down at the counter and see a grande and a tall cup sitting next to my register.

Me: (looking up at the two girls) So... you ordered a grande Komodo Dragon and a tall Pike?
Girl Who Doesn't Listen: (nods quickly) Yep.
Me: Okay... (punching away at POS)... that'll be $3.94 together.
GWDL: (digs around in her wallet and produces a $5)
Me: Five dollars... (grabs change)... and $1.06 back to you, thanks! Have a great day!
(I look down the line to see who's next... and see two men, in suits.)
Me: Gentlemen, what are we having today?
Man #1 in Suit: I ordered a grande bold and he's having a tall mild (pointing at Man #2)
Me: So a grande Komodo Dragon and a tall... (wait, what... AGAIN???)
(I look at the counter again and spot the SAME grande and tall cups, still next to my register) 
Me: (turning to GWDL, who, by now, is at the hand-off counter) Wait, what was your order???
GWDL: A frappuccino...

........................................ BUT ACTUALLY.

Believe me when I tell you that it literally took EVERY fiber of my being not to yell: "THEN WHY THE HECK DID YOU SAY YES WHEN I ASKED YOU IF YOU ORDERED TWO COFFEES?!?!??!?"

That's not even the worst part of it. I needed her to come back to the till so I could refund her the money she paid for someone else's drinks... and then charge her the correct price for her grande Strawberries & Crème Frappuccino Blended Crème (which the crumpled fiver she'd given me earlier wasn't enough to cover!!) And that's not even the worst part of it! She sulked the entire time she stood at my till, rolling her eyes at me and sighing in exasperation... as if this whole thing was my fault, as if I was totally inconveniencing her. ARE YOU FOR REAL!? 

Needless to say, the Men in Suits were held up, everyone else in the line was held up, my shift (who was the expediter) had to be pulled to open my till and thus got held up... and here's the thing, I can't figure out what her problem was! Did she not want to pay more than $5 for her drink? Did she not know her drink cost more than $5? Did she not think eventually we'd figure out she'd paid for the wrong drinks? Did she not think we'd take steps to correct that when we found out? Did she think I'd let her off the hook if she had a bad attitude? Honestly, what was going through this girl's mind???

On a much brighter note, I met my DM earlier this week and she complimented me on my superb pastry-case-setup job. w00t! :)

I also had some visitors swing by my 'bux today... thank goodness for their friendly faces, they were my saving grace! :)

Lastly, in the spirit of April 1st... check out the new sizes we'll be debuting later this year! I would love to get my hands on a plenta cup! :D

Happy Easter, happy weekend and see you at 'bux (hooray for holiday hours!)

Oh Burn!

TGIF.

Today we had the most manic rush I've ever experienced. It just went on and on and on and on... the warming station was practically a planted position, I think we got four bold traveller orders at once... it was just ridic.

Also... I got burned today. BY A SCONE.

Yes, you read that right. Who knew a pastry (one that I happen to LOVE!) could be so dangerous?

To be fair, it wasn't so much the scone as it was the icing. A customer wanted her pumpkin scone warmed up... innocuous enough. It was smack dab in the middle of our rush and I was pretty much living at the warming station. A barrage of croissants, bagels, breakfast sandwiches and apple fritters came my way... all run-of-the-mill stuff... until I was handed the pumpkin scone. Into the oven it went... where the icing on top melted into a bubbly, gooey mess. Just as I was about to slide it into a bag for the customer, the scone slipped out of my tongs. It went tumbling down to the floor, bouncing off my arm and the front of my apron along the way. 

Unlike the scorching hot water, steamed milk and scalding coffee I've had poured on me over the course of the past few weeks, icing (sizzling icing!) doesn't evaporate or drip away from your skin. It also doesn't cool down. It just kinda sits there... burning you. I can't even describe what it feels like...... I think I made some incomprehensible squealing noises and then beelined for the sink.

I ran my arm under running cold water for a minute or so while my shift retreated to the backroom to search for burn cream. Which we didn't have. Hah! Not so good, actually... considering that the chances of someone at 'bux getting quite badly burned is fairly high. We also had no bandaids, so I settled for a ghetto setup of some gauze and old medical tape. My shift was worried it wouldn't stay on, so I joked that I'd use a 'great coffee deserves great food' sticker to keep it all together... har har har! :D Mind you, this all happened while the rush was still going on and coffee travellers were beckoning... so it was back to the floor, no rest for the weary!

You'll all be pleased to know that the spot on my arm is only a little pink/tender... no harm, no foul. I'm quite happy about having two days off though. It's nice to be on the safe side of the counter! :P

Have a great weekend and see you at 'bux! :)