Build Your Yearly Planner Around Her
(It’s my first day of working as a barista for a popular coffee shop. Every year, around November, there is a promo that if you buy a certain coffee, you get a sticker. If you get enough stickers, you get a year-long planner.)
Me: “Hi! Good to see you again. What’ll be your drink today?”
Girl: “Hiya! Double Venti Java Chip, please, and a grilled ham and three cheeses.”
Me: “Okay! Are you still collecting stickers for the planner?”
Girl: “No, no. But could you please give the sticker to the next person who asks?”
Me: “Sure thing! Could I have your name for the cup?”
Girl: “[Girl].” *spells out her name as I write it*
Me: “All right! Please wait at the bar for your drink!”
(She pays for her drink and the next customer gets her sticker. Later on, when she’s served her food, she takes her tray to a table that’s yet to be cleaned, clears it herself, throwing away the empty plastic cups and paper towels in the proper waste bins, and walks back to the bar to return the tray, filled with a neatly piled stack of plates from the last person who occupied the table.)
Me: “Did you use to work here?”
Girl: “What? Oh, no!” *grins* “I just like doing things for myself. Besides, you’re all always pretty busy.”
(Supervisor comes in.)
Supervisor: “Hi, Miss [Girl]! Good to see you again! How’s your screenplay going?”
Girl: “Oh, hey! Still working on it, like you do. Thanks very much for asking!”
(I asked my supervisor about her because I’d never met anyone so polite! Apparently, this girl has been going to this particular coffee shop for years and she’s been doing this for as long as anyone can remember. She stays for hours at a time, writing things, and sometimes ordering every few hours. I’ve never known anyone so self-sufficient, polite, and kind… especially in this country! I don’t know if you’ll ever see this but you rock, girl!)
This story is included in our Philippines roundup – part of the Not Always Right World Tour!
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Have you ever served a bad customer who got what they deserved?
