North Street Coffee Shop

I don’t drink coffee, it tastes like shit unless is has a ton of sugar in it. Who wants to drink a cup of caffeine and sugar that makes your teeth yellow and your breath reek? Ugh

99% of people who drink this crap only do so because it’s trendy. Like yoga pants and macbooks.

I hate the whole subculture.

Anyway, I’ve worked customer service for various jobs and there’s always a few assholes who expect special treatment because they’re regulars. I actually never liked most of the regular customers. Almost all of the customer service conflicts happened because a regular customer felt entitled to something; a non-existent discount, free access to other facility services and areas, unlimited use of our courtesy phone for their long and loud personal conversations, access to the staff room, control over the room temperature or music, and the right to stay after closing hours. It drove me crazy.

Oh, and they’d always expect for everyone to remember their name even the new staff, as if we had regular staff meetings with their pictures tacked up on the wall or something.

One regular actually yelled at me for not letting her use our facility for free one day.

“Sorry ma’am, your card has expired”
“Oh I forgot my wallet, I’ll pay you back for today once I have the money.”
“Sorry, but I need a payment to register you.”
“BUT I’VE BEEN COMING HERE FOR YEARS!”
“We don’t take late payments regardless”
“Can’t you just let me in?”
“I can let you in right after I take a payment”

When people are regulars at a business they don’t understand the concept of balancing at the end of the night and think that the rules and protocol the staff has to abide by can just be bent for them whenever.

It’s the most annoying thing about working customer service.

Hey, I left 1% to describe people like you.

Lol you guys must be sooome hopped up on that caffeine to take a joke about coffee so seriously.

I guess the bad thing about only ever writing serious comments on here is that I can’t even poke fun at something without people taking it completely seriously and shitting themselves after putting it in a context they themselves constructed.

But I CAN be serious about coffee, macbooks, and yoga pants! It’s not about people buying something because they genuinely like, need, or prefer it like Anglo does. Or like the “1%” of the coffee drinking population does (remind me to never exaggerate something in jest around you people again). It’s about people who buy into something simply because other people are doing it. We have a tendency to mimic other people, it’s in our genes. I could get all scientific about it, but I’m not feeling it today. Between our own nature and the slick marketing campaigns designed by people who study how to take advantage of it, we barely stand a chance. To say, “I never do anything just because other people do it!” comes off as incredibly arrogant. I do it, you do it, everyone does it. Try, “I try not to do things just because other people do it” That’s better, but you actually have to try not to, and recognize it when you are.

See, the trick is to be aware of the fact that you do it, and to be critical of what you consume and why, in spite of it. I drank coffee for the longest time because, well, that’s what people do, we drink coffee, my parents drank coffee, my classmates drink it, might as well. Then I realized that a spoon of dried dog shit would taste just as good if not better with enough sugar in it, and stopped wasting my money on something I clearly didn’t need or like and that was ultimately bad for my health. I think a lot of people are like I was, drinking coffee, just because…

But in the case of macbooks, yoga pants, AND coffee… There is a whole lifestyle surrounding such material items that is currently being marketed to college students right now. And it’s working, there is a whole subculture of students who buy all the same things, you have to be blind not to notice it on campus. I see way too many people blow their student loans on luxury items like daily lattes, apple products, and lulu lemon apparel (without even any thought given to more cost efficient alternatives) only to turn around and complain about how poor they are. People need to be more critical of what they consume and why, especially if they are in a less than desirable financial situation like many students are.

Part of that particular problem is that we aren’t taught how to be financially responsible in school and in most cases at home. In my opinion, there needs to be a finance class taught to junior high and high-school kids, maybe even an elective in universities. Teenagers have had money since the 50’s. It’s actually arguable that the concept of “teenager” is just the result of people of that age group being relentlessly marketed to by various companies looking to cash in on all the money they suddenly had as a result of the post-war economic boom. Basically the same idea is being reused to target college students now, along with tweens (I hate that word too), and even children. The age at which we independently have money to spend has been decreasing since the 50’s yet kids still aren’t taught financial basics or responsible consumerism at a young age to help prepare them. Then after high-school graduation they’re dumped tens of thousands of dollars into debt and suddenly responsible for all of their own bills. Some people can’t cope. And some make their situation worse by mindlessly buying brands and shit they clearly can’t afford and don’t necessarliy want or even need.

People need to be critical of themselves and why they want, like, and therefore buy certain things. Maybe then people won’t blow a gasket every time someone else is critical about it for them or god forbid tells a fucking joke.

CUPCAKES AND RAINBOWS!?

WHERE?!!