Starbuck Barista Thoughts
So we have a few harmless homeless people that come in on a regular basis. One of them doesn’t talk or ask for anything, but he waves across the lobby to us and once I caught him wiping down the condiment bar with a napkin.
Another character doesn’t care for the condiment bar. He’s a bit unkept. His hair is a greasy, and I’m pretty sure he’s been wearing the same shirt since 1984. But, whatever, he’s always sweet to us, asking how our day’s been. He’ll bring in his empty cup for a refill and then after paying the 54¢, he’ll point to the tip jar saying “and you know the rest is for you guys!” Just seems like a nice guy who just got off track.
The other night he got his refill, and then came back over to me to ask “you like Joni Mitchell?” This really came out of the blue; its not like we were playing her music or anything. I just said “oh yeah, I love Joni.” To be perfectly honest, I don’t think he was even listening to my answer since he was making a b line to that condiment bar when I responded.
When he got there, he lost his fucking mind. He started yelling at the condiment bar and saying a bunch of things that didn’t make any sense. Then he called it a whore. I sent my coworker over to “restock napkins” and ask if he was alright. The guy said he was fine, just putting some sugar in his coffee.
This wasn’t the first time he’s done this. Another time he came in perfectly nice and cheery as usual. He told my coworker and I that he had a hell of a day. Then he nonchalantly told us that he lives at the top of an elevator shaft, that when he opens up some hatch door its like the top of a boat, and its absolutely beautiful and miraculous. This left us with a few questions. Like how does one sleep at the top of an elevator shaft? and how does having this fantastic sailing like experience result in a hell of a day? why is he telling us this? Whatever. Because of this hell of a day sitch, we gave him the free coffee he politely asked for. We all smile, and then he makes his way to the condiment bar. He starts yelling “NO… you take THAT way. DOWN THERE, and TURN.” Then he raises his voice more while at the condiment bar and, through his gibberish, we hear him say “god damn it” and “slut.”
What is it about that god damn condiment bar? He’s totally cool and then he takes a step near it and… I don’t know. He must have had a traumatic experience when he was a kid with domino sugar and half and half… and stir sticks. I know its mean, but when he and the condiment bar get into it, its somewhat humorous to witness until you remember that he’s pretty messed up. My coworker says “god, he really hates that condiment bar” before he went to go check on him while I help a customer.
This customers I was helping asks “is he a somewhat regular character here?” I say “um, yeah - but he’s usually very sweet,” and the customer gives a compassionate smile and says “doesn’t every starbucks have at least a few of those?”
