No More Barista

I also realized that I'm no longer a barista and I haven't been since last Spring. I took it out of the title, though for old time's sake it still appears in the URL.

Once a barista, always a barista, maybe? Which could also mean, barista = career that you can always fall back on.

End of My Starbucks Era

This coming week is my last week at Starbucks. I am hanging up the green apron. In honor of this momentus occasion, I present a list of things I will and won't miss at Starbucks.

MISS:
Free pound of coffee/box of tea per week
30% discount in stores
19% discount on Verizon bill
Starbucks Paseo baristas
Free drinks while I work

WON'T MISS:
Frappuccinos
Tall Nonfat Extra Hot Semi-dry Cappuccinos & other obnoxious drinks
Customer humor like "Do you have any regular coffee back there?"
Breakfast sandwiches in all forms
Food warmers in general
Frappuccinos
Peeling bananas at 6 a.m.
Tips in the form of rolls of change
Dressing head to toe in black because coffee stains blend in
Ball caps (L.A. county health code)
Frappuccinos

OK so the "won't miss" list became longer than the "miss" list, which is either a sign that it's time to quit or that it's just easy to complain about work things. Or maybe both.

Glad that I made so many friends over the years - good baristas make good friends.

Obnoxious Drink

So this girl comes into Starbucks this morning and orders a tall nonfat extra hot semi-dry cappuccino. Obnoxious drink,yes, but can be made well by a professional such as myself. And lucky for her, I was on bar.

I hear her order and think, "Lucky me." You can just tell by the tone of voice in the ordering if you're dealing with a.....you know what I'm saying.

So I commence making the drink by freshly steaming nonfat milk to extra hot temperature with some lovely foam so I can free pour the milk and foam into the cup. I make the drink correctly while she watches.

She asks that I leave the lid off so that I can easily add more milk if it's too light. To myself, I roll my eyes.

She takes it and says, "Oh yeah, feels perfect."

So I hand her a lid and she says to me, "It's not for me. It's for the Devil Wears Prada that I work for!"

Ah, sigh. Made me smile. She ordered so distinctly because she knows better than to come back with the wrong drink. I decided then and there if I see her come back in, I will gladly make that drink.

Minus the obnoxious drink, I was once that Devil Wears Prada magazine editor.