If At First You Don’t Succeed, Chai Again, Part 7
COFFEE SHOP, IGNORING & INATTENTIVE, JERK, UK | RIGHT | JULY 26, 2020
I work as a cafe barista on a UK campus. One morning, a customer who is infamous among the staff for being rude comes by and orders a latte. The transaction goes on normally, and she waits for her drink while I prepare it. When she collects her drink, she decides to add syrup to it.
Customer: “I want to add chai syrup to my drink.”
Me: “Sure thing, I just need to put the request through the till.”
Customer: “Okay, no problem; I can pay. How much is it?”
Me: “That will be 50p.”
Customer: “How much?”
Me: “50 pence.”
Customer: “No, I want four extra pumps of chai syrup. How much is that?”
Me: *In bewilderment* “It will cost you 50 pence.”
Customer: “No, I come here all the time! One, two, three, four! Do you understand?!”
I reply in a raised voice but trying my best not to shout.
Me: “Yeah, it’s gonna cost 50p!”
This goes on for a while. Luckily, it’s a quiet morning so there aren’t any other customers around. Finally, she takes out her card and asks one last time.
Customer: “Fine, I just want my drink! How much is it?!”
Me: *Pause* “It’s 50p.”
I add the syrup and give her the drink. By this time, my colleague has heard the commotion and arrived to hear her parting shot.
Customer: “You don’t speak English, by any chance?”
After the customer has left:
Colleague: “How did you not hit her?!”
I am not from the UK and don’t have a local accent, but English is my native language and I haven’t had a single problem communicating with anybody while in the UK. The customer is also not local, most probably from an Eastern European country based on her accent.
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