Tweet
I'm not really sure what reminded me of this. Probably one of the many stories concerning customers who don't listen or pay attention.
This goes back to my days as a barista in a Chain Bookstore Cafe. It was the night of the release party for the sixth Harry Potter book. I was working the cafe up until midnight, when we were all expected to be behind cashwraps and handing out books. As you can imagine, we were freeeakishly busy.
Not a big deal; it was expected, and we were a crack team! We had the experience! We had the positive attitude! We had the camaraderie! There was just one little problem:
We ran out of water.
Well, not technically, I guess. I presume the water was still there; we could just no longer access it. See, when the store had been built, the piping had been installed incorrectly, so we frequently had water pressure issues. We had never been so busy as to make this any more than a nuisance. Unfortunately, on this night, the water just...stopped working altogether. And that meant no sink; no dishwasher; no soda fountain; no drip coffee maker; no espresso machine. We had no choice but to close the cafe early. One of the store ABMs announced over the intercom that it was closed, and explained in the announcement that it was due to a lack of water. But, hey, ya think anyone was about to let something like THAT stop them? Oh heeeeelllls no! People kept coming up in droves. So, what'd we do? We took the chairs from the dining area and used them to build a barricade.
But even this did not deter a few bold and thirsty souls! They were climbing over the chairs, my friends. The steady stream had been reduced to a trickle, mind, but still -- the insanity of these few! The gall!
At one point, a man managed to evade our obstacles and ask me, the already frazzled and much-harangued, for a glass of water.
MAN of GENIUS: Hi, can I have some water?
Me: I'm sorry, but we're closed.
MoG: But all I want is water.
Me: Well, we're actually closed because we don't have water.
MoG: Yeah, I know you're closed, but it's just water.
Me: *blink* We...don't have water. I'm sorry.
MoG: C'mon, can't you just get me a glass?
Me: Sir...I...I'm sorry, I can't. We have literally run out of water.
MoG: It can be tap water, I don't care.
Me: We don't even have tap water. We don't have any water.
MoG: Please?
He kept insisting, so I sighed, grabbed a small cup, and turned to the water spigot on the soda fountain. My plan was to demonstrate to him an overt lack of liquid. Instead, the gods graced me with something even better: some kind of disgusting, brown backwash of I don't-know-the-hell what dribbled into the cup until it was about a quarter full. I took the cup back to the counter and placed it dramatically in front of him. His mouth dropped.
Me: I'm really sorry, but I can't give you any water.
MoG: ...oh.
He left after that. And I never drank water from the spigot on the fountain again.
This goes back to my days as a barista in a Chain Bookstore Cafe. It was the night of the release party for the sixth Harry Potter book. I was working the cafe up until midnight, when we were all expected to be behind cashwraps and handing out books. As you can imagine, we were freeeakishly busy.
Not a big deal; it was expected, and we were a crack team! We had the experience! We had the positive attitude! We had the camaraderie! There was just one little problem:
We ran out of water.
Well, not technically, I guess. I presume the water was still there; we could just no longer access it. See, when the store had been built, the piping had been installed incorrectly, so we frequently had water pressure issues. We had never been so busy as to make this any more than a nuisance. Unfortunately, on this night, the water just...stopped working altogether. And that meant no sink; no dishwasher; no soda fountain; no drip coffee maker; no espresso machine. We had no choice but to close the cafe early. One of the store ABMs announced over the intercom that it was closed, and explained in the announcement that it was due to a lack of water. But, hey, ya think anyone was about to let something like THAT stop them? Oh heeeeelllls no! People kept coming up in droves. So, what'd we do? We took the chairs from the dining area and used them to build a barricade.
But even this did not deter a few bold and thirsty souls! They were climbing over the chairs, my friends. The steady stream had been reduced to a trickle, mind, but still -- the insanity of these few! The gall!
At one point, a man managed to evade our obstacles and ask me, the already frazzled and much-harangued, for a glass of water.
MAN of GENIUS: Hi, can I have some water?
Me: I'm sorry, but we're closed.
MoG: But all I want is water.
Me: Well, we're actually closed because we don't have water.
MoG: Yeah, I know you're closed, but it's just water.
Me: *blink* We...don't have water. I'm sorry.
MoG: C'mon, can't you just get me a glass?
Me: Sir...I...I'm sorry, I can't. We have literally run out of water.
MoG: It can be tap water, I don't care.
Me: We don't even have tap water. We don't have any water.
MoG: Please?
He kept insisting, so I sighed, grabbed a small cup, and turned to the water spigot on the soda fountain. My plan was to demonstrate to him an overt lack of liquid. Instead, the gods graced me with something even better: some kind of disgusting, brown backwash of I don't-know-the-hell what dribbled into the cup until it was about a quarter full. I took the cup back to the counter and placed it dramatically in front of him. His mouth dropped.
Me: I'm really sorry, but I can't give you any water.
MoG: ...oh.
He left after that. And I never drank water from the spigot on the fountain again.
. Im going to be able to sleep easy tonight 
Comment