One of those days...

Today was one of THOSE days. One of those days where every single person was in a bad mood. Maybe it's something to do with the moon, maybe it's post-holiday depression, maybe it's just a coincidence, but every single customer I came in contact with today was just not happy. The customer I would like to introduce you today is:


The Non-Conformist
This guy hates everything about the way Starbucks does things. He will not conform to your hip new lingo. He'll use whatever words he wants to use and by golly if you cross him...


Today the Non-Conformist approached the register where one of our newer partners, Lauren, waited unaware of the trouble that was brewing ahead.


"Welcome to Starbucks," she said cheerily. "What can I get for you today?"


"Medium hot chocolate," he said.


What some Starbucks customers do not realize is that we carry four sizes of hot drinks: Short, Tall, Grande and Venti. So technically, we have two middle sizes. Therefore, when someone asks for a medium, we ask if they would like the twelve ounce or the sixteen ounce, since they could both fit that description. So Lauren asked him, quite innocently, "Did you want the tall or the grande?"


The Non-Conformist erupted. "I want a medium!" he shouted. "In this economy, in this day and age, I'm gonna use my own words, not your stupid lingo! I want a medium hot chocolate!"


Looking as though she were on the verge of tears, I watched Lauren say, "Okay, sir, I'm not exactly sure what you want. We have two--"


"MEDIUM!" he screamed. "I want a medium hot chocolate, you can't make me call it your fancy name!"


At this point, Lauren looked speechless. Being the person on bar making the drinks, I walked over to where they were standing, took the cup from Lauren's hand, and just to be a little bit sassy I gave him a sickeningly sweet smile as I said, "Grande hot chocolate? Yum."


For reasons unknown to me, he didn't argue with me, just finished his transaction in silence. To my surprise, he walked up to the bar where I was making his drink and tried to start a pleasant conversation with me about how my day was going. What I get from this customer is the following:


"I want you to know that I am above you, but I would still like you to make me a delicious hot chocolate, please."




The Ray of Sunshine
I'm quite delighted to introduce you to the ray of sunshine. As I mentioned before, today was one of those days where nobody was pleasant. So when I got a cup for a kid's hot chocolate with the name, "Sanders the Three-Year-Old!" I became excited. I finished the drink, made it look beautiful, and looked up. Standing right at the handoff plane was a young dad holding his son.


"Do we have a three-year-old in here?" I asked. 


The young dad smile as he looked at his son and asked, "How old are you, kiddo?"


The little boy looked at his dad, looked at me, held up three fingers, and looked back at his dad for approval.


"That's right!" said his dad.


"No way," I said, looking at him in disbelief. "You're three years old? I don't think so!"


"I am!" he said earnestly. "It's me! I'm three!"


I laughed as I handed the child his hot chocolate. He looked nervously at his father, then faced me again with a timid, "Sank you."


SO FLIPPIN' CUTE.


That kid might be the only person I saw smile today, and he doesn't even know that he made my day.