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Life Lessons at Starbucks

Being Humbled on a Black Friday Morning

By Breana LaddPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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It was the typical early morning retail shift except for three things; I was due at work an hour earlier than usual, I stopped to get Starbucks, and it was the morning every retail employee dreads—Black Friday.

Now, let me just clarify something. I have absolutely nothing against Black Friday. Heck I’ve even scored some major deals in years past. I do however have everything against working on Black Friday. You see, I work in retail and anybody in retail knows that Black Friday is one of, if not the most HATED days to have to work. Not only do we have to deal with crazy lines, obsessed people, and literal fights—we also usually work crazy hours on that day. Also good luck getting that day off.

So with that I start my day off waking up an hour and a half earlier than I usually would be with instant animosity towards everything because let’s be real—I am in love with sleep. I get ready and leave for what is truly to be a torturous day (or so I thought).

I decided to stop at Starbucks and this is where my morning gets interesting.

Overly cheerful girl through the speaker: “Thank you for choosing Starbucks! What can I get started for you today?”

Me: “Yeah uh what’s the most caffeinated drink you have? Because I’ll take a large.”

I end up ordering my drink and I pull around. I’m fiddling with my phone, trying to get the app to work and pull up my Starbucks card, still very grumpy and half awake. Starbucks is also ridiculously busy on Black Friday by the way.

All of a sudden the guy in front of me starts slapping on the metal tray in front of the to-go window and making motions as if to hurry her up. Now I start to get upset at him because it’s very obvious she’s taking another order and he had already paid. I thought to myself, “How rude. You can wait three more minutes; shopping is not that important!”

He continues for about a minute slapping the metal tray and snapping his fingers. She finishes up taking the other order and opens the window. They have a brief conversation and he hands her a card. I thought it was weird because I know he had paid already in cash. The overly cheerful girl hands him his drink and he speeds off. I was truly upset because I thought he was being impatient and rude to this girl who is just trying to survive her own Black Friday shift and I felt her disdain.

I pulled up to the window.

Overly cheerful girl: “Hi how are you today? You had a venti mocha with an extra espresso shot, correct? Yes? Perfect!”

I fumble with my phone and pull up the barcode so she can scan it to pay for my drink.

Overly cheerful girl: “OH! The gentleman in front of you actually paid for your drink and he said to tell you Happy Holidays!”

I was shocked into embarrassed silence. I take my drink, muttered a quick thank you, and drove away. He decided to spend $5 on someone he didn’t even know for no reason other than to be kind and generous. All the while I was thinking how rude he was being for slapping at the window, when in reality he wasn’t being rude, but performing a random act of kindness.

I thought about him, and my own actions, on my way to work while sipping on my free coffee. It was a lesson in not making assumptions about people, which I do way too often. So the reason I’m sharing this story is a reminder to everyone reading; don’t make judgements or assumptions about someone before you know the whole story. Sometimes people may just surprise you.

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