starbucks peppermint hot chocolateFlickr/calgaryreviews
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What can one learn about the human condition by serving coffee? More than you might think. Here's what I observed while working as a partner at a Starbucks store.

Some customers just like to have really complicated drinks for fun.

They'd ask us how they could "fill every box." Some of them just thought it was fun to be seen as high-maintenance or in-the-know, and some were a bit OCD. They would normally order something that had all but one or two boxes filled and wanted to even it out. Some just liked the extra attention.

Certain drinks signaled to us that the drinker didn't necessarily like the taste of coffee.

But they did like the caffeine or the social status of drinking coffee or the green-logoed cup. Single grande or venti anythings generally flagged this for us. The "normal" espresso beverage at Starbucks, excluding iced drinks or Americanos, had two shots for grande and venti sizes. White mochas signaled this to us, too. White mocha was, to our minds, the sweetest and most "disguising" syrup/sauce option. Any frappuccino order would get this kind of perception, with the exclusion of those who added a shot to theirs or ordered espresso frappuccinos. No judgment — half my baristas didn't care much for coffee either! — it was just a common perception.

Certain customers were, at best, troublesome.

But because they were regulars, and because we were professionals committed to delivering the Starbucks Experience, we never, ever even hinted that we felt this way. Plus, as I often emphasized to my partners at our store meetings, sometimes these customers were the most unhappy or perhaps lacked control of their lives or other outlets for their frustrations. I'm convinced that some of them wanted to push a barista over the edge to see what happened.

The most clear case of this to me was one customer I had at one of my stores who came through the drive-thru two, three, sometimes four times a day. This customer would order an iced venti extra extra caramel caramel macchiato or a venti caramel frappuccino with extra extra caramel sauce. And by extra extra, you needed to literally coat the inside of the cup so that the drink was viewed through a warm caramelly tint.

Despite everyone at the store knowing her drink and doing it well, I'd say at least one out of four times, she had an issue, whether she thought maybe we had used the wrong milk or didn't have enough shots or had too much ice. We'd apologize, remake it, give her extra attention and care in the meanwhile, and she'd go on.


Sometimes, our drip coffee customers didn't feel as loved or as special.

We took extra care to know their names, if they seemed amenable to that, and to start pouring their coffee as soon as we saw them and got a confirmation nod. We never wanted them to feel like second-class citizens to the espresso customers. We also made sure that they got a complimentary cup now and again, too.

We could always tell the people who had been in service-industry jobs before.

They ranged in how they treated us, from those who felt that they'd done their time and expected top service to the median ones who were patient and understanding of tough days or a "suggestive selling" technique on to the ones who would smile and laugh and joke with us, or sometimes would offer up a kind word after overhearing a tough customer or observing a tough situation (like the one day both our bar machines went down and my team and I were pulling shots and steaming milk on one of the Rialto espresso machines at the store!). There was just this air of "been there, done that." I still believe spending some time in the service industry of some sort is good for people — all people — to at least experience.

Some customers wanted to be healthy — but also really wanted the whipped cream.

If they didn't specify no whip but ordered a nonfat or sugar-free modification, we learned not to say something assuming no whip ("No whipped cream on that, right?"), but rather to say something more enabling ("Is whipped cream OK on that still?" "Can we still put the whipped cream on that for you?"). This way, the ones who really didn't want it would still be able to say no and feel good for having done so, but the ones who wanted it but didn't want to say it felt OK giving in ("Well, OK, sure, go for it!" or "Light whip would be great!"). Let's face it. Our espresso beverages are a luxury for many people. We wanted them to enjoy their drinks without feeling guilty. Some people would have felt awful asking for whipped cream or embarrassed. For them, legendary service was helping them get what they wanted without making them feel guilty or embarrassed.

Some customers did *not* want their orders written on their cups.

Especially those who had intricate orders or lots of syrups, etc. We figured they were embarrassed to have it on there at work. They'd often request we just write L (latte) or leave it blank. One woman even always ordered her grande frappuccino put into a venti hot cup, so she could hide the fact that she wasn't drinking "real" coffee (her words). These people were the ones who wanted to appear as put together and suave as possible but still loved their little luxuries and indulgences.

In the end, it doesn't matter what your barista thinks of you or your order. Generally we're only speculating to keep our minds busy when we're doing tasks that have become second nature to us. We're there to serve you, and that's that. What you want, you deserve to get. So order your half caff, triple tall, toffee nut, nonfat, extra whipped cream, extra hot mocha. You deserve it!

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