Drive Thru II

When I tell people I work at the Starbucks with the drive thru, most are baffled this concept even exists, never mind the fact that they have no clue for which what location I work. The concept is baffling to me too. I've been there over a year and have no idea why one would rather sit in their car for their special beverage, and enhance their entire coffee experience and get their full money's worth inside the cafe. People sit in their cars and tap their feet, completely ignorant to the fact that we are individually creating their beverage. Some customers do not distinguish coffee, latte, cappuccino, americano and just plain old shots of espresso. To some, everything is coffee and why we can't just pour and serve is a complete mystery to them.

One aspect of the original "coffeehouse culture", which I refer to quite often in my life, is that the customers are curious and interested in the artistry of brewing coffee and the mastery of the espresso bar. Now we have catered to the masses and developed super "efficient" automatic machines that require very little from the barista (only milk-steaming faculties) and makes drinks that are less and less original with every step they take away from our process. I agree that there are a multitude of beverages to produce that are quite tedious, and that maybe the use of automatic machines makes creating this new beverages easier, but I would rather eliminate frappes and iced teas before jeopardizing the quality of espresso and lattes. That's the tradition and foundation from which Starbucks was built, and we cannot let these silly gimmick beverages take precedence! My point is (I'm so passionate, I lose myself) that if customers bothered to come inside and shoot the breeze with us, they'd appreciate what we put into our jobs and their beverages. They'd also learn how to take a minute to "smell the coffee beans" and realize the real priorities in life. I can manage to get off of your cell phone, sit down, and have an intellectual conversation with a friend or a family member.