A game of chicken with a computer geek.

A few interesting things have happened since I last posted. I will try to be brief while recounting these instances; however, be patient, as I am greatly inspired after standing on my balcony inhaling the cool fall air. I stood out there tonight, pondering the arrival of autumn…I looked into the dark, September evening sky…the air was brisk in a way that only an author can appreciate, full of smells like damp dirt and the smokiness that cookouts bring, the aroma of barbequed sacrifices offered by hamburger devouring carnivores…

I love this time of year. I love to stand on my balcony and realize that I am living in the heart of one of America’s greatest cities, I am “in the mix” and living in an exciting time- a time amongst a generation of movers and shakers, when people have lofty ambitions and high goals of successes to change the world.

On a different note, a much less ambitious note- Last night, when the barista and I were trying to close the store, there was a lady that had been at Starbucks for about five hours using the wireless internet. She was on her computer in the corner. She had purchased a tall drip coffee and had been nursing that same coffee for the past five hours (which had to be slightly disgusting and cold at the point of store closing time).

I politely asked her to leave with about 1 minute left until 9pm…this is after having told her 30 minutes ago that we were closing in 35 minutes. She hadn’t budged a muscle…nor had she made any indication that she was closer to leaving than when she arrived 5 hours before. In fact, even after I told her she had a minute…she motioned with her hand that she had heard me, but STILL didn’t pick up her belongings or turn off her computer. Finally, right before I went to collect the outdoor furniture, I walked towards her table to pull up the blinds, I looked towards her computer screen. She was playing a GAME on her computer…some bejeweled game that I think I have seen my mother play, but I am not going to make any accusations, as I don’t want my mother categorized with this woman. Anyway, I become frustrated that she was holding ME up from cleaning tables, but I couldn’t really “kick” her out, so I once again, forcefully said, “Ma’am, we are CLOSED. I am picking up the furniture outside, then I locking the door. You need to leave as soon as possible…” (like five minutes ago).

As I was picking up the furniture, I kept glancing at the lady and then at the barista (who was also watching the lady) and then I would make eye contact at the barista and we would both laugh. This was CRAZY!! I mouthed, “She’s playing a GAME!” and then we laughed even harder. I was delirious at this point. And I couldn’t believe this lady was so enthralled with this game, she couldn’t even speak. I wanted to tell her, “Lady, you don’t WANT me to take off this apron and get REAL on you…because if the apron comes off, the beast comes out…” haha…not really, but that’s how I felt.

Finally, when I was done gathering furniture and about to lock the door, the lady had stood up at this point, but was still on her computer. I said, out loud, “This is getting a little ridiculous…ma’am, you can get the wireless if you park your car outside our store…” And, FINALLY, she offered, “Well, I can’t just SHUT it down…” and I wanted to say something about, “You could have shut it down 30 minutes ago!” but I didn’t, I just said, “Welp, I’ll hold the door open for you and you can walk out the door right about now…” and the barista was cracking up behind the bar while she was quickly trying to do all her cleaning duties. She didn’t want to miss this spectacle though…it was a stand-off and I was losing.
As the lady gathered her stuff into her arms…I stood in the doorway, holding the door, shaking my head. 9:15 and I was just locking the door so some 40 year old lady didn’t lose her standing in a bejeweled game…heaven forbid I have a life outside of Starbucks. Not that my life is incredibly EXCITING but seriously…a little respect for my time would be nice. Maybe I want to go home and play computer games. haha.

Today, I had a nice surprise…my parents stopped by the store and caught me in some good rush action. I was whipping out drinks (after a full day of working on the bar and getting in some good practice on our drink making routine!) and I had just enough time to make them two of our newest and most special drinks. There’s not a greater feeling than serving two of the people who have been gracious enough to give of their entire lives to make mine better. I try to always remember that when I am making drinks- serve every customer like I am serving my parents. And when I made those two drinks today, you better believe, I made Starbucks standards as proud as they could be- the whip cream couldn’t have been twirled better and the caramel was drizzled to perfection. What a nice treat to serve two of the coolest people I know- my parents! (and that comment reminds me of an SNL skit where a girl was at a high school dance and kept standing by her mom, who was the chaperone, and talking about how "cool" her mom was...she was the dorky kid...) Great. I'm the dorky kid. Now back to my computer games.