Customer service

Where did summer go? The weather has been terrible. Well, not terrible if you happen to be a slug, but for those of us who work outside all day, it gets kind of miserable.

I was stuck on the 5:30 bus again today. I try to avoid it whenever I can because it's always full of women with screaming babies and angry, disgruntled conspiracy theorists returning from work.

A bicycle courier got on just after the bus loop and proceeded to berate the bus driver because he left the loop moments before the 160 had arrived. The bus had left on time, just as the 160 had arrived at its scheduled time. The schedule is screwy, but that wasn't the fault of the driver. Regardless, the man chose to pick a fight with him.

I honestly don't understand the people who have to make life miserable for the peons who work crappy jobs for minimum wage. They don't get paid enough to take the abuse they get, and often the reason why a customer is frustrated is not really their fault. The bus driver does not make up the schedule. The long lineups at Starbucks are not because the baristas are lazy, they're because the managers did a crappy job scheduling staff. Yelling at your waiter won't help service if the restaurant is understaffed.

At Starbucks I specifically asked for no whip, and that was exactly the opposite of what I got. The barista handed my drink to me and then immediately snatched it from my hands, realizing her mistake. She looked like she was on the verge of tears. I'm trying to lose some weight this summer, but at that moment, it wasn't worth this person having a nervous breakdown. A little bit of whipped cream never hurt anyone, and when I told her this, she looked far too relieved, as if she had escaped certain death.

On the bus the man with the sunken eyes began to sing kumbayah in an attempt to pacify the angry courier. He's always on that bus. I appreciate what he's trying to do, but it's still anoying.