at a ripe young fifteen years, i, pressured by the weight of family tradition, began what i still consider my fall-back career if i ever get too cynical about ivory tower academia: waiting tables.
the danger of such a pursuit at such a young, naïve age? actually expecting other servers to be as sincerely *nice* as i myself once strived to be.
don't misunderstand me-i had my very bad days as a server. but when is it ever logical to be rude to your customers? it is much more satisfying to be overly nice to them and walk away with more of their money.
i write this after a double-dose of athens apathy in the realm of customer service. apparently if you wear clothes that are more than 30 years old and listen to The Clash, that entitles you to be obnoxious to all the normal lowlifes that eat at your restaurant with the sole intention of making you work unreasonably hard. you know who they are, those jerks that expect refills, ask how the vegannaise tastes and generally want you to be *nice* to them. ugh.
then these same high maintenance egotists have the nerve to go to a coffee shop and request their latte "extra hot." as if you should know what that means. you're only a barista, for crying out loud. what are you supposed to do? use a thermometer like they do at those *suburban* coffee shops?
please. this is athens. if you don't like our nonchalant ineptitude, then go to starbuck's, you yuppy middle-class student.
(next time i will, thanks.)
sometimes sweet. sometimes sour.
9 comments:
Hear, hear. (You could easily translate this into the WNC version, where ineptitude is due not to nonchalance, but to intake of various mind-altering substances. Happy inepts, ours are. Still, the food is late and the coffee order is sometimes misdone. Probably so I'll still feel at home.)
Oh no. My favorite coffee shop ever has, apparently, done my favorite Jenna ever some horrible wrong.
You know, I've never had an ounce of trouble there. In fact, I ordered a medium non-fat sugar-free caramel latte extra hot the other morning, and the guy laughed and did his best. (despite my obviously ridiculous and neurotic order. believe me - I laughed at myself, too). Sunday mornings, those are the days you want to get some joe at that joint.
i know, it is sad. i will still go there, i'm sure. it probably seemed worse due to the bad service at clocked.
it wasn't so much the baffled expression when i asked for the latte extra hot (i'm used to that from the kids at J.Joe's in the SLC), but the annoyed way she told me to "bring it back if it's not hot enough". at that point the only way to make it hotter is to steam the whole concoction together, which does a terrible injustice to the flavor of the drink. :(
i know, i'm a coffee snob. but they are *paid* to know how to make lattes!
i've worked at two restaurants with espresso machines. it's not hard to make a drink extra hot. and i know my little sister -- anyone who considers her to be rude or snobbish can kiss my white irish *ss (don't want to swear on her widely-read blogsite).
i've been in restaurants for ten years at every level possible -- do your job well and make your money; and never take out your bad day on your customers.
by the way, if anyone reading this hasn't had the desserts at aroma cafê (off the square in lawrenceville) you do yourself a grave displeasure. i let my co-workers try one and they claimed it to be "better than sex".
what's this? a delectable dessert shop of whose sweets i have not partaken? next time i'm in l'ville, we're going. you, then, must try the wine, cheese and desserts at aroma's in athens. wonder if they're related?
hmmm...? very suspicous. this one is run by a married couple. the wife is also a wedding cake designer.
After surveying the coffee scene in NZ for six weeks, I think if you asked for something frou-frou to be done to your coffee (e.g. extra hot, non-fat, etc.), they would probably spit in your coffee and kick you out for being snobby. Heh heh.
EVERYWHERE has the same four types of espresso drinks, and there's only one place besides Starbucks I can think of that'll do fancy drinks with chocolate or caramel or frozen or whatever. I go to that place when I'm feeling particularly American. :) But I always, always boycott Starbucks.
you know, i was on a starbucks boycotting kick for many years. after being dragged there with non-enlightened friends several times, i realized they are not only the friendliest baristas in town, but they also actually know how to froth milk. maybe the hard-core consumer in me is coming out, but better quality and better service for the same price as the other shops in town...my conscientious resistance is wearing mighty thin...
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