| rev:text
| - This morning I thought I'd see if the grass was really greener at another coffee shop. I usually visit Commonplace in Squirrel Hill (which is THE BEST), but it was a gorgeous morning, I wanted to sit outside with my one-year-old son, and I wanted to try something new, so off to Make Your Mark we went. I had been there once before and had had a bad experience because I was stuck sitting next to a table of professors who were bashing their current undergraduate class, but I'll never give up on a place because of other customers.
Today, upon entering, the woman behind the counter looked at us briefly and then quickly looked away--no hello, no good morning, nothing--but whatever, I don't need that to "make" my coffee shop experience. I scanned the menu for a cortado to no avail, so I asked if I could have a macchiato please. She turned quickly and said, also very quickly, "A macchiato is espresso topped with milk foam, you have to choose how many shots of espresso..." I said "Yes, I'd like a double, please." And as she turned to the espresso maker, she either said, "This isn't a Starbucks," or "You should go to a Starbucks." Either way her tone made her comment clear.
I know what a macchiato is, and I've never once ordered one from a Starbucks (not that I even find anything horribly wrong with Starbucks!) But my mom taught me to kill 'em with kindness, and I want to teach my son not to be rude, so as she handed me my double macchiato, I said "Thank you very much!" and paid with cash, leaving a generous tip even by stellar service standards.
But here's a tip: how about you get some customer service? Even mediocre service is better than what they're serving. I'll never return, and I'm going to make it my business to make sure they don't get any business from any of my friends or family. I've never been so disappointed or had my day so thoroughly colored by bad customer service. But, I thought, let's at least go enjoy the outdoor patio.
As I headed outside, someone came in and was greeted with "Good morning! Will it be an iced coffee or a latte today?" Clearly, you have to be a regular to matter as a human being here. So, outside I chose a secluded seat and settled in with my son. Only then did I notice someone's bag on a chair at the table next to mine. Oh well, I thought, there's no harm in sitting next to someone at a cafe. Apparently I was wrong.
When the owner returned he sat for 10 seconds and then got up and switched tables. When his friend returned, she said, "Oh, we're moving?" "Yeah, it's sunnier over here. Mumble mumble mumble." Needless to say, it wasn't sunnier at their new table far away from us. Guess what they started talking about? That's right, this years' students. Let me make sure that I say I have no problems with profs. I have an MFA and plan to teach, and some of my good friends are profs. But this was just too much coincidence not to mention.
So, if you're a professor or if you've been visiting this shop every day for decades or if you're just a pretentious snit, then THIS IS THE SHOP FOR YOU. Otherwise, stay as far, far away as you possibly can--lest you risk the elitist arrogance rubbing off on you. (The macchiato wasn't even that good, but maybe the bitter taste in my mouth came from something else.)
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)