November

We are almost to the month of November, my birthday month. People want to know what I would like for my birthday. A Starbucks card with tons of $$$ on it! Don't laugh. I have never had one and I could use it for when I travel or am not working. I don't know how you guys pay for this expensive coffee each day.

I think my friends and family think I get free coffee wherever I go but it is not true.

I see customers laying down $6 or $7 for each visit in my store. Times 7 that is a lot of cash! I am happy to see that because it makes my store profitable and my Starbucks stock is still doing well. O yes I am going to do someting BIG with all my stock some day. Any ideas???
Going to work on Sunday AAAARG.
Coco

Weather

While most of the country is experiencing the fall , we in So California have had a return of the Santa Ana winds. Hot dry winds that blow and and make allergies flare. It is also hard to breathe because there is so much ash from the fires that are burning nearby. I am watching the sunrise now and the colors are magnificent because of the ash in the air.It also makes customers more that grumpy!
Yesterday was particularily strange. Lots of sneezy weird coffee customers. Lots of people near the beach because it is so warm here. Still lots of tourists. I would like my sleepy beach town back, just for 1 week! Tourists go home! I forget sometimes that I live in an area that is a vacation destination. People pay mega bucks for a vacation here. All I want to do is get out of here. Cost of living is too high and I don't go to the beach.
Maybe next year? I can transfer to another Starbucks with seasons!
Have a good Saturday and those in the Northeast- enjoy the rain. I won't see rain until maybe January or February!
COCO

Buying coffee for others

How many men buy beverages for their wives/girlfriends on Sundays?

My Starbucks is loaded with men who are kindly ordering and paying for these drinks.
However they are so fearful that they are getting it right! Ladies- lighten up on your guys.
Do you know how difficult it is for men to do this? I see them in line each day afraid that we will laugh at their girly , high maintenance drinks. All they really want is a cup of coffee and to be left alone for awhile.
They know that even if they have the drink ordered correctly , they will probably get yelled at when they get home because it is not to the specifications of the woman.
I see it every Sunday, that would be today! Practically begging the barista to make it "just right".

When my boyfriend brings me a beverage I will be greatful that I did not have to get dressed and leave the house. And if he gets me something it will be simple , nothing he has to agonize over.
Sympathy for men today!!! Now I have to go to work.

Have a good Sunday
Coco

Seniors

It was a Senior Citizen day today at my coffee shop. What was going on today?
I have concluded that old people have very little respect for retail workers or people in general.
Many times today I heard ,

" Hon, hurry up with my drink".
"I didn't order that- make me another! "
"I always have to park so far away!"
" Why do I have to wait for the bathroom?"

I was getting in my car after work and there was an old man getting in the car next to me.
I was there at my door way before him but he just opened up his passenger door and hit my door. I said something to him and he scowled and told me to f**ck myself. OKAY ! Loony time.
This makes me wonder if anyone else has had problems with Seniors? Car accidents for sure. I know they always run into me with carts in the grocery store.
Let me know
Coco

What bothers you ???

So you are standing in line at a retail establishment, say Starbucks. We all have to go somewhere at one time or another. The grocery store, bank, the airport or coffee shop, it's all the same.

WAIT WAIT WAIT.

What do you notice about customers or what bothers you the most while waiting?
Do you notice other people waiting or do you watch the person behind the counter? or maybe you are off in lala land thinking about your girl/boy friend? That would probably be me.

What bothers , what makes you think about climbing over the counter and saying "hey , could you speed it up a bit?".
Let us all know.
Thanks for the ideas
Coco

Molten Lava ?

I have had a rash of customers who've been ordering 200* beverages.
Starbucks teaches us to "just say yes". So we do.
Congrats men, again. It is not you ordering these drinks. It is very picky women.

I like to refer to them as MOLTEN LAVA LATTES.
They are very popular in the freezing, cold area where I live. San Diego!!!!!

They are so hot it is hard to handle the milk pouring as well as the handing off. It is awesome
to call out these drinks and have other customers guffaw and joke as the Molten Lava MORON picks up their beverage.

Then they proceed to insert a straw into the drink hole and sip away! How many times have I heard - " OH, this is too hot to drink now".
So what's a girl to do? Just smile and walk away.
Have a good Wednesday
Coco

Long Distance relationships

Do they work? Can long distance relationships work out?
I want your opinions because I am in one.
East Coast vs West Coast.
I can see why they don't work out - however if there is a finite date for the 2
to finally be together would that help the distance? I think it sounds more reasonable to me to say "ok in a year we will move where ever and finally this will be over".
Am I just deluding myself? HELP ME?????
Happy Monday
Coco

Rain

I love the rain. Living in So California we don't get much of it. Yesterday was a blustery and rainy day. Sometimes it bring out the worst in customers. I guess they don't like waiting in traffic the freeways. They stop in for a coffee at my Bucks and they are on their way. I noticed that women tend to be grumpier in the rain. Congrats guys! you lose this one!
How many beverages did I have to re-make yesterday because the woman customer was too grumpy to tell us EXACTLY what she wanted in her high maintenance bev? Too many.
It's not the end of your world if it rains, it is just a little water. It isn't going to ruin your hair or make-up. And please get off your cell phone. No one on the East Coast wants to hear about our rain. It rains there all the time.
Also I tend to think that women are grumpier in general in the am. Why is that? I am so used to being up early for work that I am not grumpy. HaHa I get paid to get up early and serve grumpy people. The irony in that!
Have a good Saturday
Coco

Flossing

I was working the other day at the Buck , tidying up the restroom. I found a wad of dental floss on the floor. I guess someone felt the need for a little mid-day dental pick-me up.

It reminded me of driving to work the other morning and watching a man flossing in his car. It was pretty gross to watch. Not to mention dangerous to other drivers. Maybe far worse than mascara because floss requires 2 hands!

So what is the 411 on bathroom grooming in autos? Are we all doing it?
Let me know
Have a good dental Friday
Coco

Don't eat in front of me

So- Do you normally purchase a tasty treat to go with your coffee? If you do , please keep it in the bag to eat after you are done paying. I don't want to see anyone, man or woman, chowing on their muffin while I take their money. There are muffin crumbs and grease all over the money or credit cards.
Talk about sweaty money this is "food falling from my mouth"money!
Also people seem to think it is ok to make conversation with their mouths stuffed full of scone.
It is hard to understand what you are saying with a glob of pastry hanging from your mouth.
Didn't your parents teach you anything?
I think that as soon as we leave the parental home that all our manners are left behind. I am sure we all see bad manners everyday.

Tell me what you are seeing out there in retail land.
have a good Thursday
Coco

I Hate Sundays at the Buck

Everyone who know me know that I am one of the few people who love their jobs.
Except for SUNDAYS.
The nastiest, crankiest, dumbest, never been to a coffee shop in their life people arrive at my counter. It is torture for all.
How many times today did someone wait in line and then when arriving to place an order they can't decide! Oh my God it is just coffee not brain surgery! Don't try something new, just get what you always get. And by the way, try and have your money ready when ordering. Don't wait till the last possible moment and then open your huge sack of a purse and rifle in there for correct change. Customers in line behind you really hate you at this point and it is a good possibility that you are getting decaf instead of that real caffeine that you sooooo needed.
I know this sounds really unimportant but these people slow down the efficiency and speed that I am judged upon and must maintain as a manager.
I am really looking forward to my Monday off and I am not paying EXACT change for anything tomorrow. I will be speedy when ordering my latte and move right along.
I would love me as a customer!
Coco

Hit a nerve?

Seems like I hit a sore spot with you guys.
You don't like it when women critique your performances?
I can't tell who was responding to my last blog, man or woman.
2 comments seem to be from men.
Men who are upset with their kind for not being able to satisfy women.
What's going on out there with you guys?
Coco

Peculiar men

Did you ever watch a man fixing his coffee or latte at the bar at Starbucks?
There are many choices of add-ins at the condiment bar to choose from.
Several milk choices as well as flavorings to add to their cups.
I find it amusing to watch men add into their cups. I find the ones who take the longest the strangest. They take forever and stir and add and stir and add and stir and add. Tasting as they go along. Sometimes working on their brew for more than 5 -10 minutes.
This makes me wonder how they manage their lives? Especially with a woman in bed.

Excuse me honey- could you move 3 inches to the left?
Honey -could you put your hand a little lower?
O no- we have to move this way.
Okay now we are too close to the edge of the bed.
See what I mean?
Picky Picky and peculiar!
Met any of these picky, anal guys yet?
Have a fabulous October all
Coco

Fruits and Nuts

I have a friend from the East Coast who thinks that California is full of Fruits and Nuts. That is CRAZY people.
What do you think?
Have a great Tuesday
Coco