Time To Wake Up And Smell The Chai

(I am out with some friends at a coffee shop that has some of the best baristas in town. Because I do not like coffee I always order something else to drink, such as tea or a chai latte.)

Me: “Hello, I’d like a medium chai latte, please.”

Barista: “Sure, no problem. Can I get your name?”

Me: “[My Name].”

(We find a table and wait, and our drinks are ready within a few minutes. I take a sip of my chai latte, and tastes neither right or good, but I can’t quite place why. I take another sip and realize that it has coffee in it. I take it back up to the barista.)

Me: “Hi, my chai latte tastes bitter. Did you put coffee in it?”

Barista: “Oh, yes! It tastes much better that way.”

Me: “But I don’t like coffee, which is why I asked for a chai latte. Could you please re-make it, without the coffee?”

(A manager walks by with a stack of clattering dishes and mishears what I said.)

Manager: “I’m sorry, but the Chai latte doesn’t come with coffee in it.”

Me: “I know; that’s why I ordered it.”

Manager: “Why are you asking for it to be re-made without coffee?”

Me: “Because there’s coffee in this, and I don’t like coffee!”

Manager: *to barista* “Why did you make it with coffee if she asked for a chai latte?”

Barista: “Because it’s better that way!”

Manager: *sighing* “Please re-make it without the coffee.”

Barista: “Well, I like it with coffee!”

(The manager gave him a hard look, and he correctly re-made my drink without further commentary. My friends and I haven’t seen that barista since!)