Why ME????????
It started of like any ordinary day, a few experiments, a meeting and then my usual midday ritual at Starbucks. As I lined up for my caffeine shot I saw that it was really overcrowded. It seemed like a bunch of high school kids were having their first coffee and were really excited........uh; I am not speaking metaphorically here! Well, seeing that I am a coffee addict and I can’t do without my daily dose and given the fact that Starbucks is so far from Biodesign(a.k.a my lab) I reluctantly joined the queue.
"What are those weird words on the menu? Are they even English?" the girls with blue hair in front of me asked.
"Err.....not all" I racked my brains as to how I could make it simpler for her. "' Tall' is an English word, 'Grande' means 'large' in Spanish and 'Venti' is Italian for 'twenty'. However, in Starbucks lingo, 'tall' means 'small', 'grande' is medium and 'venti' is 'large' and they are the sizes of coffee that you can have." Two semester of working as a teaching assistant made me good at explaining things, I noted.
"What's a Frapuccino?" this time I noticed that she had bright pink nail polish and a pierced tongue. "It is a sort of cold coffee. They put crushed ice instead of milk" I was getting impatient here. This process was taking far too long than I had bargained.
The girl in front started shuffling around with a perplexed look again and instantly I pretended to get busy with my phone. Life savers, these cell phones! At the same time the very nice girl at Starbucks also came to my rescue and finally took my order. "Unanticipated rush today” she panted, looking thoroughly disheveled. I smiled knowingly and waited for my order.
After about ten minutes of waiting, the attendant handed me not one but two large cups of coffee. "Excuse me, I ordered only one! And that too a small one!" I also noticed that he had heaped whipped cream on it and it was dripping with caramel.
"This is our gift to you...." beamed a very effeminate, six foot tall black guy.
"......because we love you" added a very thin Chinese guy with bulging eyes, spiky hair and a very wide smile.
"Please take it" chorused three Mexican girls in very shrill voices.
I noticed that everybody in the cafeteria, including the weird punk kids, were almost holding their breath in excitement, their eyes glued on me. The only way I could escape was if, miraculously, the floor opened up and swallowed me inside! I waited for a second.....but then, miracles don’t happen, do they? So now remained only one alternative. I extended two trembling hands towards the coffee and then, with one determined and swift movement, grabbed the cups. Everybody in the whole cafeteria started clapping! The Chinese guy even had tears in his eyes. I flashed a very forced and a very plastic smile and before anyone could blink their eyes, I was out of that place!
The entire event was so unsettling that I simply HAD to return home instantly. Years ago, I had gotten into this habit of analyzing any event which was out of the ordinary. However, when I thought about this recent occurrence, the only question that came to my mind was "Why me?"
And take my word for it when I say that I still don’t have an answer...........
It started of like any ordinary day, a few experiments, a meeting and then my usual midday ritual at Starbucks. As I lined up for my caffeine shot I saw that it was really overcrowded. It seemed like a bunch of high school kids were having their first coffee and were really excited........uh; I am not speaking metaphorically here! Well, seeing that I am a coffee addict and I can’t do without my daily dose and given the fact that Starbucks is so far from Biodesign(a.k.a my lab) I reluctantly joined the queue.
"What are those weird words on the menu? Are they even English?" the girls with blue hair in front of me asked.
"Err.....not all" I racked my brains as to how I could make it simpler for her. "' Tall' is an English word, 'Grande' means 'large' in Spanish and 'Venti' is Italian for 'twenty'. However, in Starbucks lingo, 'tall' means 'small', 'grande' is medium and 'venti' is 'large' and they are the sizes of coffee that you can have." Two semester of working as a teaching assistant made me good at explaining things, I noted.
"What's a Frapuccino?" this time I noticed that she had bright pink nail polish and a pierced tongue. "It is a sort of cold coffee. They put crushed ice instead of milk" I was getting impatient here. This process was taking far too long than I had bargained.
The girl in front started shuffling around with a perplexed look again and instantly I pretended to get busy with my phone. Life savers, these cell phones! At the same time the very nice girl at Starbucks also came to my rescue and finally took my order. "Unanticipated rush today” she panted, looking thoroughly disheveled. I smiled knowingly and waited for my order.
After about ten minutes of waiting, the attendant handed me not one but two large cups of coffee. "Excuse me, I ordered only one! And that too a small one!" I also noticed that he had heaped whipped cream on it and it was dripping with caramel.
"This is our gift to you...." beamed a very effeminate, six foot tall black guy.
"......because we love you" added a very thin Chinese guy with bulging eyes, spiky hair and a very wide smile.
"Please take it" chorused three Mexican girls in very shrill voices.
I noticed that everybody in the cafeteria, including the weird punk kids, were almost holding their breath in excitement, their eyes glued on me. The only way I could escape was if, miraculously, the floor opened up and swallowed me inside! I waited for a second.....but then, miracles don’t happen, do they? So now remained only one alternative. I extended two trembling hands towards the coffee and then, with one determined and swift movement, grabbed the cups. Everybody in the whole cafeteria started clapping! The Chinese guy even had tears in his eyes. I flashed a very forced and a very plastic smile and before anyone could blink their eyes, I was out of that place!
The entire event was so unsettling that I simply HAD to return home instantly. Years ago, I had gotten into this habit of analyzing any event which was out of the ordinary. However, when I thought about this recent occurrence, the only question that came to my mind was "Why me?"
And take my word for it when I say that I still don’t have an answer...........
posted by shreya at 12:18 PM
10 Comments:
Instead of asking the question, Why Me? you should be asking the question, Why Not Me?
And what exactly do you mean by that??????????:X
Wow! Nice article. I had a similar experience in the cafe, but I guess u were pioneer in this mater to publish it.
No wonder, care for its customers is one of the prime motto of Starbucks. For this and different strategies, it has made it as one of the leading sellers in this field of the "love-potion" (Courtesy: Casanova)
Thank God I am not the only one! That makes me feel a lot better!
I can see a teacher coming out of u. And that teacher already got best teacher award in form of 2 vetti's.
Clap clap clap!
Taste of this "shot" of coffee will last for a very very long time.
you shd say 'why me' when something bad happens. for instances like these, you shd say 'lucky me'. ;-)
P.S. I am not the prev anon.
LUCKY!!!!! You think that was lucky????? That was downright embarrassing!!!!! The most embarrassing day of my life!!!!!
@Harsh.....I am going to be a professor, not a teacher!
Alright alright be a proffesor, but i was making the point that u will be a good teacher then.
Nice one, Shreya. If that'd happened to me, I'd be mortified enough to want to sink 10 feet deep into the ground. Clapping, huh? LOL.
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