Friday, January 15, 2010

My Starbucks Experience

My experience here in the United States taught me that people tend to make small talk, polite conversations, usually about mundane topics such as the weather, when in a public place, while waiting for something, the bus, or your coffee. And I liked that. I thought that was really friendly. I don't usually instigate the casual conversation but that day I did.

We were driving back from a pleasant afternoon in Napa when we spotted a Starbucks store. Needing a caffeine boost, we stopped. This one did not have a drive through window. So we went inside. The store was as expected at about 5 pm empty except for two or three people ahead of me in the line. When it was my turn to give my order, I thought it would be nice to chit-chat with the barista. My husband at this time was using the facilities. So I asked this lanky pimply-faced young lad who looked like he's not old enough to drink coffee what they put in my Americano. Cafe Americano is my signature drink when we go to Starbucks. Not only is it priced modestly, I also enjoy its taste, which is very important. I don't go frap or something, I get shocked thinking about the calories in each of those ventis. Anyway, he must have not expected me to say something else outside of my Americano venti order so he asked if I could repeat what I just said. I did. I asked him what do you put in your Americano? The lad found his composure and confidently answered: "Hot water and coffee beans."

My husband caught the last part of this conversation and could not help but give out an audible chuckle at the response. He chastised me; he said I got what I asked for. He said I asked a stupid question so I got a stupider response. Did you think my question was stupid? Maybe I did not phrase it correctly. I wanted to know what combination of coffee beans they use for their Americano, so I could copy that when I brew my own at home.

Enough for chit-chatting with baristas. I learned to just smile and comment on how glorious our weather has been. It's a much safer topic for everyone.

4 comments:

Josiet said...

I didn't think it was stupid. Maybe the barista was just caught off guard =)

sri said...

I KNOW , have been there done that, tried making conversation and felt why I did that in the first place, I can sooo empathise with u :)

The Scud said...

batistas here make small conversations too. they usually mention my tired look. scrap that. they always see my with a tired look. that's the only time i need my coffee fix from starbucks.

Random Student said...

i tried that at krispy kreme but it was as a response to someone like you who wanted to chitchat. I was busy with my laptop and the earphones were plugged in. then came this face that showed up to my right. it was the security guard of krispy kreme asking me if the dog on my desktop's mine. normally i'm a snob, but I i've been very stressed out lately that i am not my calculating self these days so I simply replied yes it is and he's this big now (gesturing), 8.8. kg all in all.

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