Among Friends

[lovesrecess]

Unfortunately, DH is addicted to their Sumatra Decaf so he isn’t going to give up his “vice”. He meets another retired friend there in the late afternoon after the school kids clear out. I have never been a coffee drinker....so the whole thing is lost on me. I think the rude employees should be fired the very first time they show any disrespect for anyone in uniform...it would stop right away. Forget the “ sensitivity training”. If they need that, don’t hire them in the first place. Seems like corporate just looks the other way when these incidents are reported now. We have several coffee shops in our area, but I was surprised to learn most of them serve no decaf at all. People want their caffeine!

[suzyQ3]

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@sfnative wrote:

I am a "no  more Starbucks customer," after having been shamed as being a "older white customer."

This occurred about one year ago in Vancouver, WA, at a busy Starbucks.  I was meeting up with someone I had met on a fiber arts Facebook Group for the first time.  Walked in and went directly to the counter.  There were two youngish very young adult females behind the register, one white, one African American.  I ordered my usual Grande Latte.  They both looked at me with absolutely dead faces.  Sad nothing.  Not even the price or please insert your card, you know the drill.  It was quite strange, to say the least.  Then I proceed to the other end to pick up my drink, which turned out to be hot milk - no coffee in it.  I turn to the barista and ask, " OK, what are you guys pulling today?  I saw the look on the faces of those 2 at the register.  Now, are you going to get on it and do my drink right or do I get on the phone to the Director of Operations for Starbucks Western States and Hawaii, because I have met him, he knows me and I have his business card on me.  So what is it going to be?   (True statement.)

Believe me, I was not whispering at this point. 

I'm incredibly sick and tired of all of the ______  ____   various employees here in the U.S. are perpetrating on the customers they are employed to serve!

Enough already!

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So @sfnative , they called you an "older white customer"? Because you did put this in quotes.

If no, what exactly made you think that your whiteness had anything to with not getting what you ordered?

You are leaping and bounding into dangerous territory with this attitude. If for some reason your high-connections that you bragged about don't do whatever it is you think that they should, based on what you posted here, I would be oh so shocked.

[sidsmom]

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@suzyQ3 wrote:

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@sfnative wrote:

I am a "no  more Starbucks customer," after having been shamed as being a "older white customer."

This occurred about one year ago in Vancouver, WA, at a busy Starbucks.  I was meeting up with someone I had met on a fiber arts Facebook Group for the first time.  Walked in and went directly to the counter.  There were two youngish very young adult females behind the register, one white, one African American.  I ordered my usual Grande Latte.  They both looked at me with absolutely dead faces.  Sad nothing.  Not even the price or please insert your card, you know the drill.  It was quite strange, to say the least.  Then I proceed to the other end to pick up my drink, which turned out to be hot milk - no coffee in it.  I turn to the barista and ask, " OK, what are you guys pulling today?  I saw the look on the faces of those 2 at the register.  Now, are you going to get on it and do my drink right or do I get on the phone to the Director of Operations for Starbucks Western States and Hawaii, because I have met him, he knows me and I have his business card on me.  So what is it going to be?   (True statement.)

Believe me, I was not whispering at this point. 

I'm incredibly sick and tired of all of the ______  ____   various employees here in the U.S. are perpetrating on the customers they are employed to serve!

Enough already!

---

So @sfnative , they called you an "older white customer"? Because you did put this in quotes.

If no, what exactly made you think that your whiteness had anything to with not getting what you ordered?

You are leaping and bounding into dangerous territory with this attitude. If for some reason your high-connections that you bragged about don't do whatever it is you think that they should, based on what you posted here, I would be oh so shocked.

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@suzyQ3 

Yeah, that post all sorts of red flags.

I think my eyes rolled to the back of my head...🙄

I follow a Barista tell-all Twitter account...and they experience

crazy customers acting all sorts of weird every single day.

[Ms tyrion2]

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@sfnative wrote:

I am a "no  more Starbucks customer," after having been shamed as being a "older white customer."

This occurred about one year ago in Vancouver, WA, at a busy Starbucks.  I was meeting up with someone I had met on a fiber arts Facebook Group for the first time.  Walked in and went directly to the counter.  There were two youngish very young adult females behind the register, one white, one African American.  I ordered my usual Grande Latte.  They both looked at me with absolutely dead faces.  Sad nothing.  Not even the price or please insert your card, you know the drill.  It was quite strange, to say the least.  Then I proceed to the other end to pick up my drink, which turned out to be hot milk - no coffee in it.  I turn to the barista and ask, " OK, what are you guys pulling today?  I saw the look on the faces of those 2 at the register.  Now, are you going to get on it and do my drink right or do I get on the phone to the Director of Operations for Starbucks Western States and Hawaii, because I have met him, he knows me and I have his business card on me.  So what is it going to be?   (True statement.)

Believe me, I was not whispering at this point. 

I'm incredibly sick and tired of all of the ______  ____   various employees here in the U.S. are perpetrating on the customers they are employed to serve!

Enough already!

---

This post is disturbing on so many levels.

None that even remotely involve Starbucks. 

A tantrum of this nature would have me calling a manager to escort you out of the building.

Btw, a  cafe latte is primarily comprised of foamed milk. Just a single shot of espresso.

So many generalizations on this thread.

Not all police officers are brutal racists.

Not all Starbucks employees are police haters.

Is this concept so difficult?

[Porcelain]

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@sfnative wrote:

I am a "no  more Starbucks customer," after having been shamed as being a "older white customer."

They would only put "Older White Customer" on the cup if you told them to.

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[sidsmom]

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@Porcelain wrote:

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@sfnative wrote:

I am a "no  more Starbucks customer," after having been shamed as being a "older white customer."

They would only put "Older White Customer" on the cup if you told them to.

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@Porcelain 

Ok...I giggled way too hard for that.

[AuntG]

There are bad workers in every field so I wouldn't generalize. However, if those three words were written on my cup by a person serving up my coffee, I'd have snapped a picture of the girl holding the cup and sent it to corporate. 

[oceantown]

This is a fairly recent article from the Newport News Times in Newport Oregon.  This article can be found on-line, but I thought I would copy and paste.

Newport Police Department hosts community event at Starbucks

A customer proclaimed with a smile that the Newport Starbucks must have been the safest place in town on Wednesday morning, what with all the law enforcement in the shop. On Dec. 18, the Newport Police Department hosted their first-ever “Coffee with a Cop” event, which gave citizens an opportunity to have a one-on-one chat with a local police officer over a cup of joe.

Police Chief Jason Malloy said that the idea for the event came from the local Starbucks manager, Brett, and NPD’s own Lieutenant Brent Gainer.

“They just were talking about … something for us to be involved with the community and the community to be involved with us,” said Malloy. “And this is a popular place.”

Though many customers were unaware of the event before walking in the door, many immediately struck up conversations of varying lengths with the officers — before and after ordering.

“I love this idea,” said James, of Portland, who was visiting Newport on business. “I think more places should do this. I think it’s great.”

“Everybody’s very receptive,” Malloy said, 30 minutes into the event, “and I think we’re going to start branching out into actually helping people — we’re learning about coffee right now.”

In addition to being treated to samples of the famous Starbucks Christmas Blend coffee and food items, the officers present were also given a look behind the scenes at how the baristas run things on the other side of the counter.

When asked if the department will do another “Coffee with a Cop” event in the future, Malloy answered: “Oh yeah, absolutely. I think so.”

[NYC Susan]

This doesn't sound like a Starbucks problem to me, but more like two apathetic employees (which can happen anywhere), and a huge over-reaction on your part.

What did being an older white customer have to do with it?  And how were you shamed?   I fit that description too, and I've never had an experience like that at any Starbucks anywhere.  I love Starbucks and I go to various locations all the time - with no negative experiences ever.  

If you thought they got your order wrong, why not just tell them rather than resort to being so antagonistic and threatening?  I can't imagine screaming at them, or swearing off Starbucks forever because of something like this.   Life's too short to turn it into this much drama.

[sfnative]

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@suzyQ3 wrote:

---

@sfnative wrote:

I am a "no  more Starbucks customer," after having been shamed as being a "older white customer."

This occurred about one year ago in Vancouver, WA, at a busy Starbucks.  I was meeting up with someone I had met on a fiber arts Facebook Group for the first time.  Walked in and went directly to the counter.  There were two youngish very young adult females behind the register, one white, one African American.  I ordered my usual Grande Latte.  They both looked at me with absolutely dead faces.  Sad nothing.  Not even the price or please insert your card, you know the drill.  It was quite strange, to say the least.  Then I proceed to the other end to pick up my drink, which turned out to be hot milk - no coffee in it.  I turn to the barista and ask, " OK, what are you guys pulling today?  I saw the look on the faces of those 2 at the register.  Now, are you going to get on it and do my drink right or do I get on the phone to the Director of Operations for Starbucks Western States and Hawaii, because I have met him, he knows me and I have his business card on me.  So what is it going to be?   (True statement.)

Believe me, I was not whispering at this point. 

I'm incredibly sick and tired of all of the ______  ____   various employees here in the U.S. are perpetrating on the customers they are employed to serve!

Enough already!

---

So @sfnative , they called you an "older white customer"? Because you did put this in quotes.

If no, what exactly made you think that your whiteness had anything to with not getting what you ordered?

You are leaping and bounding into dangerous territory with this attitude. If for some reason your high-connections that you bragged about don't do whatever it is you think that they should, based on what you posted here, I would be oh so shocked.

---

@suzyQ3 

No, they did not say "older white customer."  I did not say that.

After I sat down with my drink and having introduced myself to my new FB fiber acts acquaintance, I had a clear view of the register station of which I spoke.

The 2 young adult females of which I spoke proceded to be quite animated with every single male or female customer before them.  There were, admittedly, constraints on my part, as the two of us were conversing quite a bit for well for 90 minutes, so I cannot admit to having seen even 50% of the customers or entered after me and were served for that pair.  However, as just mentioned, I did people watch for at least 10 minutes (having told my new acquaintance that it was something I needed to do).

My huge issue and challenge is living in Portland, OR, where little or nothing is tolerated, let along being over 60 and ______.  The same goes for traversing the Columbia River on 205 North to Vancouver, WA for a coffee on Mill Plain at a Starbucks.  Unless you live in Portland, OR, you cannot possibly understand horrible dynamics which exist here, unless of a particular _____.I can say no more.