greg334
Veteran Expediter
I wanted a cup of coffee and stopped at one of the thousands of Starbucks after I delivered. I wanted to have my usual, coffee of the day/week with a shot of espresso – something that we had in my family long before it was in vogue here in the states.
Now to many of my overseas relatives, Starbucks falls short of being a café – as in copying of the European café it just falls short and I found out why today.
In front of me were an older gentleman and his wife waiting to be served. I didn’t hear anything they were talking about until he got to the counter and behind the counter stood a rather dumb looking girl trying to take an order. So he spoke to the rather dumb looking girl in an all too familiar accent and broken english, ordering a large espresso with milk no foam – so she fires back with "oh you want a latte ventie". He looked puzzled and said “no, no just large espresso with milk no foam, no latte, pleaseâ€. So she looked puzzled, maybe she never heard of an espresso with milk no foam I don’t know but she all of a sudden started to explain what a latte was and butchered the all too familiar words printed on the menu that was in the native language of this gentleman and his wife. He was getting frustrated and so was I, he interrupted her in the middle of her explanation what size “grannies†was and said “please, I speak little English and want large espresso with milk, no foam– I don’t understand all you are saying, please large espresso with milk no foamâ€. So she looked at him for a solid 15 seconds then said with some authority and confidently "ok you want a latte ventie!"
They went back and forth a couple times with the same thing. I can not describe how funny it was watching her try to convince him she was right but finally he stopped her, he explained in Italian (to the best of what I could figure out) that she was the dumbest thing he has every seen and the donkey on his farm knew the difference was between a latte and espresso with milk – no foam. He put a lot of words for my childhood that I knew weren’t nice and she thought he was complimenting her and said thank you with a great big smile. He was so mad he started to raise his voice that is when the manager came over and asks what the problem was. After the gentleman got done with explaining what he wanted, the manager said, oh you want a latte venti and she pops in with “I told him what he wanted but he doesn’t understand our menu. I thought I would suggest a latte grannie but he wants a ventie - I think a ventie is too big for him".
At that point I interrupted - see I still wanted to order so I figured I might as well step in and put my two cents in so at least I can get out of there before the grapes are ready for picking. I told the manager to listen carefully and explain that this gentleman was from a region where espresso originated from; to be exact you are looking at the great grandson of the inventor of the espresso machine- signore Bezzera. He knows what exactly he wants. I explain to the manager and the girl with the dumb expression on her face that in his town, the town where the first espresso machine was born, espresso is always prepared for the old timers with milk, plain milk and always without foam. This type of prepared coffee is not to him or the entire region ever called a latte, latte has foamed milk. So after a dumb look on the managers face for 20 seconds, it was like a light going off like a old Ford commercial, a smile came across his face when he realized who Signore Bezzera was and what importance he holds in Starbucks history. He shook his hand and went through this very quick (and nervous) explanation and apology. The girl went along like she understood but we all knew better. After a brief conversation with his wife he turned to me and tried to tell me something in broken English, which I told him just say it in Italian and I think I will understand. I think he said that this was the worst experience he ever had anywhere and can understand why people hate Starbucks. Well the gentleman and his wife was treated to a cup of coffee that they wanted (large espresso with milk, no foam) and a complimentary pound of a coffee of their choice (of course I recommended the most expensive). I understood the gentleman quite well which surprised me, I still can’t read a thing my dad writes but hey what can I say.
What is sad is that the manager and the dumb girl didn’t realize that I was full of it and they think they had a celebrity visit them. The manager got right on the phone to call someone to tell them who was there. I got my coffee and got out of there.
Now to many of my overseas relatives, Starbucks falls short of being a café – as in copying of the European café it just falls short and I found out why today.
In front of me were an older gentleman and his wife waiting to be served. I didn’t hear anything they were talking about until he got to the counter and behind the counter stood a rather dumb looking girl trying to take an order. So he spoke to the rather dumb looking girl in an all too familiar accent and broken english, ordering a large espresso with milk no foam – so she fires back with "oh you want a latte ventie". He looked puzzled and said “no, no just large espresso with milk no foam, no latte, pleaseâ€. So she looked puzzled, maybe she never heard of an espresso with milk no foam I don’t know but she all of a sudden started to explain what a latte was and butchered the all too familiar words printed on the menu that was in the native language of this gentleman and his wife. He was getting frustrated and so was I, he interrupted her in the middle of her explanation what size “grannies†was and said “please, I speak little English and want large espresso with milk, no foam– I don’t understand all you are saying, please large espresso with milk no foamâ€. So she looked at him for a solid 15 seconds then said with some authority and confidently "ok you want a latte ventie!"
They went back and forth a couple times with the same thing. I can not describe how funny it was watching her try to convince him she was right but finally he stopped her, he explained in Italian (to the best of what I could figure out) that she was the dumbest thing he has every seen and the donkey on his farm knew the difference was between a latte and espresso with milk – no foam. He put a lot of words for my childhood that I knew weren’t nice and she thought he was complimenting her and said thank you with a great big smile. He was so mad he started to raise his voice that is when the manager came over and asks what the problem was. After the gentleman got done with explaining what he wanted, the manager said, oh you want a latte venti and she pops in with “I told him what he wanted but he doesn’t understand our menu. I thought I would suggest a latte grannie but he wants a ventie - I think a ventie is too big for him".
At that point I interrupted - see I still wanted to order so I figured I might as well step in and put my two cents in so at least I can get out of there before the grapes are ready for picking. I told the manager to listen carefully and explain that this gentleman was from a region where espresso originated from; to be exact you are looking at the great grandson of the inventor of the espresso machine- signore Bezzera. He knows what exactly he wants. I explain to the manager and the girl with the dumb expression on her face that in his town, the town where the first espresso machine was born, espresso is always prepared for the old timers with milk, plain milk and always without foam. This type of prepared coffee is not to him or the entire region ever called a latte, latte has foamed milk. So after a dumb look on the managers face for 20 seconds, it was like a light going off like a old Ford commercial, a smile came across his face when he realized who Signore Bezzera was and what importance he holds in Starbucks history. He shook his hand and went through this very quick (and nervous) explanation and apology. The girl went along like she understood but we all knew better. After a brief conversation with his wife he turned to me and tried to tell me something in broken English, which I told him just say it in Italian and I think I will understand. I think he said that this was the worst experience he ever had anywhere and can understand why people hate Starbucks. Well the gentleman and his wife was treated to a cup of coffee that they wanted (large espresso with milk, no foam) and a complimentary pound of a coffee of their choice (of course I recommended the most expensive). I understood the gentleman quite well which surprised me, I still can’t read a thing my dad writes but hey what can I say.
What is sad is that the manager and the dumb girl didn’t realize that I was full of it and they think they had a celebrity visit them. The manager got right on the phone to call someone to tell them who was there. I got my coffee and got out of there.
