Where's My Latte?

Every random Saturday, I play Scrabble with my friends, Matty and Mags.

I don't quite remember when we had started this routine, but it had happened shortly after Matty left 6th and Pine and I had transferred to Westgate. Actually, he is the reason why I started going to the Coffee Shop. I ran into him and Mags, and found out that they had met there on occasion to play Scrabble.

They let me join them for a game and a bond was formed. After I started working at World Vision, I would join these two former co-workers from Starbucks every Wednesday night for a game of Scrabble.

Yes, I realize it makes us sound like some old people during Game Night at a elderly home, but I love it. I hope that when the three of us are old and gray that we would end up playing Scrabble at Game Night, arguing over fake words and how many "Gs" are in the word "grog." Matty--there are only 2 "Gs." Look it up. I dare you.

This Saturday, Matty asked me if I had missed working at Starbucks. It was a funny coincidence that he had asked me that question, as I had recently contemplated my time at Starbucks while I was sick this week. I told him that I didn't miss it, only to renege that statement with a very genuine, "Well, there are some people I miss, but it is not enough to come back."

We spent the next five hours (I kid you not) reminiscing about our time at Starbucks. We laughed over shared memories over our former co-workers, regular customers and the silly inside jokes that never will grow old for us. We also moaned over the shared frustrations over work ethics, managers who never stood up for the baristas, and weak pay. We exchanged stories until there were tears coming out of our eyes. However, the verdict was the same: we would never go back.

A couple years ago there was this commercial that made fun of the "Gimme-Now-or-Suffer-the-Consequences" culture we had created. A woman comes up to a coffee bar that was obviously a "Starbucks" and she orders a "Double Tall NonFat Latte." She pauses long enough to blink an eye before she says, "Where's my latte?"

I love it.

At Starbucks, we had cultivated and catered to this kind of consumerism. It was sickening. Yes, customer service is important. And the level of customer service everywhere is appalling. You may hate your job, but you still need to serve people will excellence. But the role as a customer is just as important, if not more so. These are human beings who are serving you, not robots.

During my time at Starbucks, I witnessed daily displays of human indecency that, to this day, makes me sick to my stomach. It was hard not to become jaded. And I admit that towards the end of my time working at Starbucks, I became as bitter as the coffee we had served. (Sorry, I had to take the obvious metaphor.) It was the grace of God (and my job at World Vision) that I still have compassion for people.

No, I could never go back. For those who currently work there, I hope your experience is better than mine. And for both sides of the counter, it is important to remember that just because something isn't exactly perfect, we do not have the license to be rude.

A little grace can go a long way.