Ode to my sbux

I'm having one of those days where I don't know what I want to write about.  Usually when I start though, the words just come tumbling out...
I'm sitting in my new favorite cafe.  I am ashamed to say it's a Starbucks...but what can I say?  I've definitely had better drinks at other cafes,  but this place is just so cozy.  And, no matter what people say about Starbucks, it is nice to know that you are getting exactly what you ordered (and it's always the same).

Side note: It's hard for any cafe to measure up to my standards because my Starbucks was the best place in the world!  We were amazing at customer service, made excellent drinks, and had a blast.  Seriously.  Half of the job was working and half was goofing off...always with my coworkers, often with customers.  We loved our regulars, who became like friends, and always had their customized drink waiting for them. 

 Brian, Mark and Will were so great with the customers.  Brian would joke around with the customers, and give them free drinks.  Mark knew all things Starbucks, and would chat people up and share his knowledge.  And Will...what can I say.  He knew every customer's name, made friends with all of them, and always put his whole heart into whatever he was doing.  I have never been anywhere in my LIFE that had better customer service.  We had so much fun hanging out and working, that the mood was kind of contagious when people walked in.  When customers came in, we would drop whatever we were doing to welcome them and make them feel valued.  It's hard for me to go to other cafes and not compare them to mine.  I just get so annoyed that their service is SO bad, and you can tell it's just a job to them and they could care less about you being there.  I miss my Starbucks!

Drinks: I absolutely loved working at the bar.  There's just something so fun about creating the best drinks ever, and making people happy!  I know for a fact that people loved us :) I hate airy foam (you know, the kind the hardens and is gross), so I always made it a point to make it as silky as possible.  I even had customers come back and say "this is the best foam I have ever had!".  That always made me smile :) 

Brian was the drink master, and such a natural at the bar.  I really loved working with him...especially when there was a line out the door - we double-barred the espresso machine like nobody's business.  There was just something about the seamless flow of creating hundreds of drinks, without ever spilling a drink or bumping into each other.  So fun.

There are so many more great memories, but these are some of the highlights...we also did pranks on a regular basis...Brian tied my apron stings to the cabinet, Will made a prank call from the back room and had me going for a good 5 minutes before I realized it was him.  I was so stinking mad but it was impossible not to laugh when I went to hit him and he was laughing so hard he could barely breathe.  I put coffee grinds down marks shirt.  I tried SO hard to prank Brian...but he was so smooth that it was impossible!

One of my favorite pranks is the picture below - our back room was TINY, and when we got our shipments in, it was almost impossible to put it away.  Will was in the back corner on the computer, so focused that he was oblivious to everything around him.  Mark and I ran in the back and stacked all of the heavy, full boxes into a wall... 



Look at Will!  Hahahahha I will never stop laughing about it.

Anyways, my side note turned into my story.  I was privileged to work with these wonderful people.  I am so grateful that God gave me the blessing of working at a place that I enjoyed so much.

The end!