To the barista at a certain north-end coffee spot: Yes, the kid we were with gingerly opened the door marked Employees Only. Good eye. I hope you feel good about intimidating paying customers into leaving (while implying criminal activity) over someone (with special needs) curiously peeking into your kitchen. You’re a bully, you made me cry, and I won’t be back. -I don’t need your coffee anyway!
This article appears in May 1-7, 2014.
ick
You cried…?! Really? You CRIED? Really?
Yeah, if she cried then they’re leaving out a huge part of the story.
if you cried for getting scolded over opening a door, you have bigger problems than a barista.
Bursting into tears turns your cred into dust, OP. Put on your big girl pants and learn something about dealing with hostile people and situations. It’ll pay off big time in the long run.
Fuck, please don’t relocate to my small indy coffee shop in the north end. Please say this was a *bucks or a hydrostone outfit so there’s no chance we’ll cross paths.
meh, op could have cried from the public shaming – humiliation. could be an automatic reaction – something that she wishes didn’t happen. what I focussed on was the bit about the barista lashing out at a special needs kid.
YOU DO NOT PICK ON THE FUCKING HELPLESS!
lots of coffee shops in the northend and what good dog said
It lacks a bit of context. Was it obvious the child had special needs, and even so, does that automatically give the child leniency to break rules others can’t? Is the door to a busy area of the coffee shop, so one would expect employees to be moving quickly in and out of that area, swinging the door open where it could potentially hit a little one standing on the other side? Is it possible that the OB is sensitive and that being asked not to enter was taken more sternly than intended? Is it possible they let the child roam around and gave the impression of being inattentive parents? Who knows. How far would the OB let the child go in, and if they got hurt, would she still hold the coffee shop responsible?
I know it’s the trend to bash the OB, but in this case it makes no sense. So what, she was upset and cried.
If the story is as OB described, then the barrista was out of line, period. There’s no need to deal with people that way. If you chose to do so, you simply suck and lack any intelligence to realize that it gets you nowhere in life.
OB; I would go back, tell the manager, and move on.
Were you assaulted by any cigarette smoke on your way home?
In this cold world, if a barrista scolding brings you to tears, you need to keep kleenex on you at all times …
cause it’s gonna be a rough life.
Are they listed in the Food and Drink section?
Maybe a little voicing of your opinion is in order…
WHERE IT SHOULD GO.
Hey lonelyd, you bring up some good points. I don’t normally get involved in this type of negative bullshit, but…
As an advocate for persons with disabilities, I feel I should clarify.
1. Yes, it’s quite obvious the child has an intellectual disability.
2. That does not mean he was allowed to break the rules.
3. The shop was nearly empty, with the kitchen shut down for the day. He was in no danger by looking inside or being in proximity of the door.
4. Yes, I was a bit sensitive. So? I probably sell more emotional labour as a support worker than all you negative fuckers.
5. He was within arms reach of me at ALL times.
6. He simply opened the door and looked inside without going in. I was right behind him to close the door. I was not about to let him enter and hurt himself, others or damage property, seeing how it’s my job.
7. The barista was out of line. Management was notified. Case closed.
I stubbed my toe the other day, but I’m not going to whine about it. What has become of this bitch section?
Look at it another way; kid opens door, door bumps barista (I still have a hard time using that word without gagging or saying NSCAD Alumni) barista is carrying hot milk/water and it slops over and splashes kid, this is when the real tears can kick in you mealy mouthed gutless cunt.
If you need to yell at a kid for opening a “forbidden” door, and you lack the ability to keep your calm, then you’re going to have a rough go in this world.
The barista in question is just a shitty person. There’s lots of them out there. They’re too stupid to realize that their behavior won’t get them anywhere in life worth going.
Special needs child within arms reach should never have gotten close to the knob. Pottery Student/Theatre Grad/Bean Slinger may have over-reacted but she narrowly wins this bout on points.
She may have done you and the child a favor:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m83JcNoNQ-4
Some things are just not meant to be seen by mortal eyes – and the preparation of fair trade coffee is one of them.
point lost on me ivan, was distracted by breasts in white satin heaving in the foreground.
ark you say? where?
and a one, and a two…. who will counter with some moody blues.
Weren’t we all. Distracted, that is.
No bloody mews. Have some Pag instead.
Pourquoi pas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HA6sS-PGBR0
I’m just glad that Bas had the courage to call the OB a mealy mouthed gutless cunt. On this anonymous board. For Queen and Country!
I think the issue here is, OB and her coffee company wasn’t watching the kid properly. While there’s no excuse to be rude to anyone else (especially a customer), I doubt this would’ve happened if the kid was being watched by his guardians.
With special needs kids, YES they can get upset and might be hard to keep a hold of, but if the kid ‘gingerly’ opened the door, as OB put it, the kid obviously wasn’t upset or having a tantrum.
So, while the barista could’ve handled it better, I think OB is at fault for the entire situation to begin with. Kids need to be watched in public — for their own safety — they’re inquisitive little buggers, and you especially need to look out for special needs kids.
Let this be a lesson for next time, OB, but I’m guessing given the lack of personal responsibility in this situation, it won’t.
Pretty,
Everyone knows that kids should be watched in public – but the reality is that sometimes kids “get away”. Life is hectic. I don’t have kids but you see this all the time.
There’s just no excusing shitty people – this barista being one of them. I would like to think that most of us could handle such a situation with a bit more class.
But maybe that’s asking too much.
I dunno — if you’re going out with kids, you watch them like hawks, ESPECIALLY if they have special needs.
I’m pretty sure OB and her coffee company were too busy talking about whatever the fuck they were talking about to notice the kid wandering off and would be the first ones to yelp “WHY DID THIS HAPPEN TO ME?” if the kid was snatched and the first ones to blame the coffee shop if the kid had’ve gotten into the kitchen and ended up hurt.
The lack of personal responsibility from the cry baby OB is what bugs me about this bitch. In fact, I’ll bet the barista didn’t even get pissy — they just DARED to say something assertive (at most) to OB and her companion and OB’s special snowflake-self went all cry baby.
Something smells funny and [for once] it ain’t Buddha’s artist boyfriend.
“Life is hectic”? They were sitting in a coffee shop sucking back coffee. What the fuck is hectic about that? No excuses work here. The employee was probably pissed that these dicks were more wrapped up in their ‘hectic coffee drinking’ than looking after a kid in their charge. Assholes. If the kid wandered in front of a bus they’d blame the bus driver.
Cranky,
You must be one of them shitty people.
It’s not about blame. There’s just no point in being a shitty person. Most intelligent and good human beings would have just told the kid with a smile he’s not allowed in there. Only a shitty person would cause a scene. And that’s a fact!
I agree. The reaction was overblown. However, it never should have happened in the 1st place had the adults been doing their job of keeping junior on a short leash.