Hold the chicken (Jack Bog's Blog)

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This page contains a single entry from the blog posted on August 18, 2010 9:27 AM. The previous post in this blog was Aloha? Oy.. The next post in this blog is Brandon's back -- with a Mustang, no less. Many more can be found on the main index page or by looking through the archives.

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« Aloha? Oy. | Main | Brandon's back -- with a Mustang, no less »

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Hold the chicken

The next time this English teacher goes to Starbucks, she needs to bring this guy with her.

Posted at 9:27 AM | Permalink

Comments (13)

I have the same problem with Starbucks. I am bewildered by their choice of terminology. I want a cup of coffee dammit, and the only question important for me from the "baristas" is 8 12 or 16 ounce?

I have the same problem with colors. What is mauve? when I ask, I am pointed at the version the person whom I asked thinks it is, and they are always different.

Posted by Lawrence | August 18, 2010 9:56 AM

Why is it that customers like the prof are always right in front of me when I am running late.

Posted by Gibby | August 18, 2010 10:02 AM

Sounds like she'd be fun at a party.

Posted by Steve | August 18, 2010 10:11 AM

She might be a pain in the rear but we need more people to refuse to take corporate crap -- like to help stop the flow of junk phonebooks. Someone in Seattle is trying -- you would think Oh-so-green PDX would jump on this:

http://daily.sightline.org/daily_score/archive/2010/08/17/seattle-tries-to-cut-the-crap

Posted by George Anonymuncule Seldes | August 18, 2010 10:18 AM

This guy could lend a hand as well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkpDEn7mGVY

Posted by Stefan | August 18, 2010 10:42 AM

Thanks Stefan, made my day!

Posted by dman | August 18, 2010 11:34 AM

Usually only sexually frustrated people find it constructive to berate minimum wage workers over the policies of their employer...

Posted by TKrueg | August 18, 2010 11:45 AM

The employees have discretion as to how flexible to be with customers over this kind of policy. If they insist on rubbing customers' noses in it, they deserve what they get.

Posted by Jack Bog | August 18, 2010 11:57 AM

Thanks TKrueg! That made my day.

Posted by Bartender | August 18, 2010 12:00 PM

When the majority of people want either butter or cheese on their bagel, why is it so unreasonable to ask if the customer wants them? I always ask if people want ranch dressing with their appetizers and certain menu items because I'm really tired of running back to the kitchen to fetch a side of ranch everytime because people always seem to somehow forget to order it even though it's obvious they douse their food in it everywhere they go. 30 years of experience in this business has taught me to work smarter rather than harder. Working in the service industry can be trying, forgive us these harmless - though linguisticly challenged - questions won't you?

Was it really so difficult for this woman to simply say "plain", or "neither"? Instead, she refused to specify at all, apparently expecting the baristas to read her oh-so-superior mind. Give me a break.

Seriously, pick your battles people. If that's the type of thing that makes you go to the extent of throwing a tantrum like this women did, you need to get a life.

Posted by Bartender | August 18, 2010 12:24 PM

I was in a Sawbucks once when they, apparently spontaneously, came around serving a round on the house. Everybody had their mouths hanging open looking at a second 800 calorie caffeine and cream bomb.

What prompted this, someone asked. The barista said they were just trying to encourage people to feel at home and enjoy the place. When we do the crowd-sourced "death of common sense" book, Sawbucks needs at least its own private chapter.

Posted by Shirley U. Jest | August 18, 2010 12:55 PM

One wonders if the woman could have simply said "No Thank You".

Posted by Lc Scott | August 18, 2010 1:19 PM

The real question is, why on earth would any moderately intelligent person who happens to be in the middle of Manhattan order a bagel from Starbucks in the first place? Their sad pastries taste like sawdust, and are a last resort to be turned to only in desparate situations such as air travel. Hello, Murray's? H&H? the Fairway? The list goes on...(and multigrain? Feh!)

Also, the woman sounds so abrasive, combative and self-righteous, I suspect the low-wage barista was responding to the woman's nastiness by being intransigent. Yes, the rigid Starbuck-speak is irritating, but if you want a barista who can handle different words that aren't on the corporate script, don't patronize Buck-Bucks.

Posted by Doris | August 18, 2010 10:53 PM

In Vino Veritas

Quinta das Amoras, Vinho Tinto 2009
Mauro Molino, Barbera d'Alba 2009
Garda Chiaretto Rose
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Vineyard 10 White
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris, Columbia Valley 2009
L'Hortus, Rose de Saignee 2010
Maculan, Pino & Toi 2008
McKinley Springs, Bombing Range Red 2008
Trader Joe's Pinot Gris 2009
Montes Alpha, Cabernet 2007
Gran Sasso, Sangiovese, Terre di Chieti 2009
Garda, Classico Chiaretto Rose
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1999
Picos del Montgo, Tempranillo 2008
Chateau de Montmirail, Vacqueyras 2008
La Granja 360, Syrah 2009
Montgras, Carmenere Reserva 2009
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Cabernet 2008
Kirkland, Pinot Grigio 2010
Trader Joe's Coastal Syrah 2009
Columbia Crest, Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2008
Trader Joe's Coastal Chardonnay 2009
Vieux Papes Red
Domaine de l'Aujardiere, Chardonnay 2009
Santa Rita, Cabernet, Medalla Real 2007
Penfold's, Koonunga Hill Shiraz Cabernet 2008
Guild, Red, Lot #02 2008
Dievole, Dievolino Sangiovese 2008
Laforet, Burgogne Chardonnay 2009
Columbia Winery, Merlot 2007
Bonterra, Cabernet 2008
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2009
Maquis Lien 2006
Scott Paul, Pinot Noir, Le Paulee 2007
Cameron, Chardonnay
B.R. Cohn, Cabernet, Silver Label 2006
Graffigna, Cabernet 2005
Palo Alto, Reserve Red 2008
Menguante, Garnacha 2008
Lange, Pinot Gris 2009
Felsina Berardenga, Vin Santo 1997
Anne Amie, Pinot Gris 2009
McKinley Springs, Bombing Ramge Red 2007
Vieux Papes Red
Dionysius Chardonnay 2009
Haden Fig, Pinot Noir 2009
Vega Montan, Mencia 2008
Chateau la Vernede, Coteaux du Languedoc 2007
Mount Defiance, Hellfire (White) 2008
Root: 1, Cabernet 2008
Columbia Crest, Two Vines Pinot Grigio 2009
Columbia Crest, Two Vines, Vineyard 10 White, 2008
Columbia Crest, Two Vines, Vineyard 10 Rose, 2007
Abacela, Grenache Rose 2009
Avia Cabernet 2004
Lemelson Pinot Noir, Thea's Selection 2007
Chateau de la Roulerie, Rose d'Anjou 2009
Casal Garcia, Vinho Verde Rose
La Ferme Julien, Rose 2008
Cana's Feast, Bricco Red, 2006
Hogue, Genesis Merlot, 2008
Owen Roe, Sharecropper's Cabernet, 2008
Kim Crawford, Unoaked Chardonnay 2008
J. Scott, Pinot Noir 2008
Edmunds St. John, White, Heart of Gold 2008
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2006
Stevenot, Cabernet, Sierra Foothills, "Stanford" 2000
Portuga, Vinho Rose 2009
Taylor Fladgate, First Estate Reserve Porto
Franciscan, Cabernet, Napa 2006
Chaparral de Vega Sindoa, Garnacha 2008
Quinta da Aveleda, Vinho Verde 2008
St. Francis, Chardonnay Sonoma 2008
E. Guigal, Cotes du Rhone Blanc, 2007
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly, Gamay Noir 2008
St. Innocent, Pinot Noir 2006
Jigsaw, Pinot Noir 2007
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Merlot, Indian Wells 2007
Charles Shaw, Chardonnay 2008
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly, Gamay Rosé 2009
Cameron, Willamette Valley Chardonnay
Il Valore, Sangiovese, Giovane, Puglia 2008
Duck Pond, Chardonnay, Wahluke Slope 2007
Kim Crawford, Marlborough Pinot Noir 2008
Domaine du Pesquier, Cotes du Rhone 2005
Cantina Zaccagnini, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2006
Domaine Matrot, Chardonnay, Bourgogne 2007
David Hill, Oregon Sparkling Wine, Brut
Chandler Reach, Monte Regalo 2006
Elk Cove, Pinot Gris 2008
Kirkland, Columbia Valley Merlot 2008
D'Aragon, Old Vine Garnacha 2008
Columbia Crest, Walter Clore Private Reserve 2005
Pavin & Riley, Merlot 2006
David Hill, Estate Pinot Noir, Barrel Select 2006
Castle Rock, Paso Robles Cabernet 2006
Magnificent, Cabernet, Steak House 2008
Conundrum 2008
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 1998
Saint Cosme, Cotes-du-Rhone 2007
La Granja, Tempranillo 360, 2008
Santa Rita, Mendalla Real Cabernet 2006
Columbia Crest, Grand Estates Merlot 2006
Andezon, Cotes-du-Rhone 2007
Collegiata, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo
Troon, Druid's Fluid 2008
La Granja, Tempranillo 2008
Monte Antico, Toscana 2006
Vieux Papes, Blanc de Blancs

The Occasional Book

Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt

Road Work

Miles run year to date: 54
At this date last year: 50
Total run in 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269