Writer sides with those who frown on tipping at Starbucks

Sue Hutchison writes: "I tend to come down on the side of the annoyed caffeine junkies, even though I'm a recovering coffee abuser. It is a bit much to be engulfed by Starbucks' noxious fog of sanctimony and pretension and be expected to pay even more for the privilege. As many of the online chatters [on Starbucks Gossip] pointed out, if Starbucks is going to trumpet how nobly it treats its employees then why do they need tips just for working at the counter?" (San Jose Mercury News/reg. req. | Login/PW from Bugmenot.com)

Comments

[javajockey]

First,as far as the issue of "sanctimony and pretension" goes, if walking into a Sbux intimidates and demoralizes you to that extent, then you should stay out. You obviously have emotional problems that need attention.
Second, tipping has been debated forever, and it comes down to this: if you are against it, you have never worked for tips, or are too cheap to toss that nickle into the tip jar after throwing the two dollars at the barista for your venti coffee. Keep your nickle; you obviously need it more than I do.
Third, the tips I get come out to about $1.50 an hour, which I pay taxes on, I might add. For that buck and a half I put up with alot of shit from alot of assholes, thanks, and I feel I've earned it. I get a decent salary from Sbux for the job I do, and my tips are just a way for the customers to express their appreciation for good service. If the service isn't good, don't tip. If you're a tightwad, don't tip. If you're an asshole, you know the drill.

[anothercoffeelover]

While I do sometimes tip when I buy coffee, depending on the service received, people working behind a counter at a place where they can receive tips should definitely be thankful to even get an extra buck or two.

Plenty of us at one time or another worked miniumn wage (or only slightly better) fast food jobs where no tips were allowed, and we had to put up with equally mean and rude customers!

[Barista to the Stars]

Let me ask you: are you still at that low pay fast food job? Probably not. Low pay and dealing with assholes tends to drain your dedication to your job. Not just because you are underpaid but because you are not appreciated. Underpaid I can deal with -- but the difference at Starbuck's is that SOME customers appreciate us. I don't have to be tipped to be appreciated. And, for the record, I am thankful when someone tips me, but I am not grateful. I do not need the 13 cents from your venti coffee, but if you want to thank me for speeding up your service or for telling you the joke of the day to brighten your morning, I thank you in return.

We are NOT fast food workers. We are trained baristas and we love sharing our knowledge with people who appreciate what Starbuck's is. Tip or don't tip but if you don't understand that Starbuck's is NOT a fast food joint, please stay away.

[Mark]

im just upset because today i made the ubb mix with water instead of milk then my shift ended...i hope that they notice the mix is messed up before they make fraps with it /sigh

[ROXIE]

I can tell you that I appreciated tips even though I don't get them! As a manager, I'm salaried and don't get tips, but when someone appreciates my service enough to tip, I always say thank you - and I completely appreciate the gesture! The best part about a tip - you don't HAVE to give it. If you have a stick so far up your ass that you need to complain about something that is OPTIONAL (as is going into a Sbx also!) - then keep your nickle - I don't need it.

[Boston Starbucks Rebel]

Mark, thats really funny. I'll have to do that sometime, although one morning I tried to make UBB with vanilla powder boy did that end bad. Also Starbucks emphasizes that it is not fast food, but a specialty retailer. It is just some stupid senior leadership who lost the vision of Starbucks. Howard Schultz one time wrote that he wish his dad had a job like Starbucks to help his family. I think Howard Schultz probably didn't love his dad too much and is some type of sadist leather daddy. Tips anyway is a little quid pro quo. I don't charge you for all your modifiers and you put the change in the tip jar. Thats how I do it and it works out just fine!

[Lyra]

I don't feel the need to tip at Starbucks, so I don't. I think tip jars (in general) are kind of tacky though.

[cornfrost]

To clarify Sue's confusion: If you want to give a tip specifically to one barista, you can hand it to that person, instead of putting it in the tip jar to be split among everyone.

[Patrick]

Well well, Tips are one of the greatest things at my starbucks. When I count them out every monday they come up to be about 2.90-3.50 an hour and boy we need em. We're in a odd little resort area around lake tahoe where the cost of living is high, but no one pays accordingly, its kinda odd.

I will say that from what I notice most of the tips that go into our jar are from regulars or from people with far to much money. And we provide pretty good service and we've had three 5 stars in a row for the last 3 snapshots.

Tips are a personal thing and i undestand how people just give tips out of guilt, and i dont agree with it. If you dont want to, dont tip. But if everyone was like you mabey I would give regular instead of decaf if my timer was off. Or mabey starbucks would have a higher base pay. Somthing to think about. If servers didnt get tips, they would HAVE to get paid more or else no one would work in a resturant.

[CGG]

True cafe enthusiasts know the wisdom of tipping. Baristas know who puts the dollar in every time, and who doesn't. A regular customer who tips well will always get the best treatment, and the most care when drinks are being made.

[B. Rista]

Remember that despite the great benefits Starbucks offers, all baristas are part-timers, and most don't take advantage of health benefits for various reasons (covered under parents' plans, students, etc). For someone working 39.9 hours a week in NYC (effectively full-time), they won't gross more than $17,000 a year.

Tips are important to most baristas. If you've ever worked in a service industry job like a Starbucks or a restaurant, you know how much manual labor is involved, how much drudgery, how many jerk customers -- and you'd never argue against tipping.

[service industry worker]

Starbucks is not a restaurant. I tip at restaurants. I don't tip at Starbucks, and I'm a regular, and I'm treated well. It's never been an issue for me.

[Ben]

Most of the time I see the "tip jar" it looks like something that was set up by the employees. I don't think I've ever seen one that made me think that it was institutionally accepted (unlike in restaurants which often have rules about automatically including a tip/gratuity and lists such on the CC slips). I figure a few cents "tip" would be insulting and that it is just an attempt to get a bit more cash under the table. If it was supposed to be a tip for good service then it shouldn't be located right at the register (where the only service you've had so far is someone taking your order) but at the end when you pick up your beverage.

I hadn't thought too much about this before, but can you imagine if you were expected to pre-tip your server at a restaurant? Sort of like a bribe or a pay-off I guess.

Can anyone share if tipping and the tip jar is addressed in the corporate literature?

[cornfrost]

Ben: As of two or three years ago, our paystubs started including a line called "taxable fringe benefits/imputed tip income," which we are taxed on. Imputed tip income is 50 cents an hour.

[New Shift]

It really bothers me to read posts by baristas stating that they treat people differently based on tips. I have always viewed the tips as an added bonus. Most of the time i forget that the tip jar is even there. Starbucks trains us to give "lengendary service" 100% of the time. That does not mean wait for the clink before making conversation or going that extra little step.

[Boston Starbucks Rebel]

Dear New Shift, I think you will realize that 100% applies all the time yes. However, people who give good tips get 110% service all the time. For example, their drink maybe moved to the FRONT of the line in a rush of 15 drinks. I believe, it is necessary to build a strong base of regular people who come to expect good service. Quid pro quo. I scratch your back, you scratch my back.

[writer_nw]

It shouldn't even be an issue. Give them a tip.

[deusx]

You know its funny, people tip bartenders. I think the average is a buck a drink, I might be wrong. Bartenders tend to barely give you the time of day in a busy bar, and make your drink any damn way they please. A bartenders skill definitely impacts if you enjoy your drink. No one really fights about or questions a bartenders' getting tips. By the way, most bartenders I know make upwards of ten bucks an hour not counting those tips.
Baristas have to memorize recipe lists just as complicated as any liquor drink. Baristas spend as much time making most drinks as a bartender does. A Barista's skill definitely impacts whether you enjoy your drink or not. Baristas are required to be far more knowledgeable about the product they create than any bartender. Baristas are expected to fall over themselves to serve the customer, including sunny smiles, chat and managing to look interested in what you are saying. Baristas make 7.50 an hour on average. Yet they dont deserve tips. What is the difference? Purely perception.

[International Starbucks Guy]

Sorry Guys,

This debate is old and sad. Tipping per se is such an American concept. Just get out of there once in a while and you'll see that a LOT of places don't do it. I enjoy living in a part of the world where people don't expect/demand extra cash for doing their job (Starbucks included). When I go to the States I'm still amazed at the free handouts people are looking for.

Don't get paid enough? Find a new job.

[Barista to the Stars]

Well, International Starbucks Guy, aren't you the cosmopolitan guy? I've been all over the world. I really appreciate and embrace different cultures, even when I don't understand or agree with them. Too bad you feel the need to sneer at Americans. Why don't you just stay "international" and don't come back? That would work too. Then you won't be "amazed".

I don't want to find a new job. I'd rather stay at a job I enjoy. The tip jar is there. Use it don't use it.

Barista to the Stars

[J.D.]

I always tip at Starbucks. Who are these cheap people who think Starbucks needs tips? It's the baristas, not Corporate, who get the tips. I tip because I sit for two hours working at a table. I tip because I don't have to be a barista. I tip because it's the human thing to do. My baristas are friendly and work hard. Anyone looking can see that.

[Denise]

I work very hard to make sure that my customers (regular or not) enjoy their experience at Starbucks. I pick up plates from their table, clean all baseboards free of crumbs and dust, wipe off chairs, santize about everything within sight and misc. other things that most people don't even realize or notice. I do this so that my customers enjoy being there. I get as much pleasure and appreciation from my customers as they get from us. It's nice to know that you have made someones day a little more enjoyable. If they choose to acknowledge that in a tip..then thanks--if not--thanks for the smile and a quick joke. It wasn't until I started working for Starbucks and receiving tips that I realized how much they could be a little bit of a bonus between checks when your having a hard week financially. This in turn, has helped me understand my own tipping practices.
I work at Starbucks as a Barista because I want to. For those that say find another job if you don't make enough...walk a day in anothers shoes. After being laid off, going to school full-time and being a single mother over 30...it's not that easy. By the way...prior to this job I used to make over 35,000 a year. I like this job much more!

[KCruz]

I love tippers!! And the nickel, two pinnies, or twelve cents does add up. But I do advise that you use that one lonely left over penny to ride the penny pony at King Soopers! Then your one cent may do you more good than me.

[muntz]

dear lord...

make the a-holes that don't tip or think that good coffee is a fast-food item rot in hell where their colon is burnt from the inside out with oily Dunkin-D coffee or Maxwell house. S-bucks may be a corporate-whore of a company, but it is still a specialty store and not a fuggin McDonald's. jesus fuggin christ! who thinks these businesses have anything in common except a lot of customers?

i'm only a customer, but i do know how hard it is to find a good barista, especially in NYC. i go to the good spots on my way to work (even if it is out of the way) if i can get consistently good capps. i tip everyone a dollar every time i go (i'm not rich), but i don't go back to the spots that make crap drinks. so the good baristas (and occasionally the crappy ones) get a decent tip.

[Xcgurl]

I am one of those people who always tips at Starbucks... and I have actually had people (who were behind me in line) ask me why I would do such a thing it's only "fast food." It always unnerves me that people care what I do with the extra quarter that went towards my mocha.

[Ian]

In my experience here in NYC, the employees at the dozens of Starbuck's I've been to don't come close to deserving a tip. They treat you like cattle, in and out, screw up you drink on a regular basis (why does my Frap taste different at different locations?), and are so lazy that they can't be bothered to make the drinks properly (Shaken Iced Coffee is supposed to be SHAKEN, swirling the sweetener around a couple of times at the bottom of the cup doesn't cut it, and then the dirty looks when I ask you nicely to shake it). Starbuck's is the Wal-Mart or McDonalds of cafe/coffee shops here in NYC, sorry. I ALWAYS tip at Joe's, Jack's Stir Brewed, or MUD, because they make the drinks right, and add a personal touch.

[noareyou]

OK, indignant baristas, let's make a deal. On the rare occasion that I enter your domain, you could be nice to me. Don't correct me when I mess up the name of the size (you know which one I mean when I say "the medium size" - I don't care if it's a venti or a vidi or a vici). If you can do that, and skip the sneer when I don't know your "double mocha skinny no whip with a twist" lingo, I'll give you a tip. If you give me attitude for being "small town," I'll give you what you deserve - nothing.

Your non-monetary tip for giving me a look inside the tip jar situation: You can't spend the proverbial nickLe tip, but collect twenty nickEls and you'll have a dollar.

[ROXIE]

NOAREYOU - The register partner is required to call the drink to the barista using certain words and a certain order. This is not to make you feel bad about yourself - it's to speed up the cup marking/drink making process. (Although I agree that if they are "correcting you" TO YOU - then that is not right, but I've only seen one person actually do that.)

If you feel bad about yourself because of something that simple, I suggest you see a therapist if they have them in your "small town."

[deusx]

For the people who compare us to McDonalds, do you get all pissy when you walk into Burger King, order a Big Mac and they ask if you mean a Whopper? Companies have their own lingo, employees need to confirm specifically what you want from them using it. Using your specious fast food comparison, you walking into Starbucks and saying give me some coffee is like walking into McDonalds and asking for some hamburger. Furthmore, why don't you bitch at McDonalds for having 20 different hamburger sandwiches,I mean christ why do they have to make it so complicated, requiring you to know the name of the particular sandwich you want and expecting you to add modifiers like "no tomato on that"? They should offer a frigging plain hamburger on a bun and forgo all that pretentious, fany shit right?

[cornfrost]

Last week a customer insisted on an iced tall dry cappuccino. I said I didn't understand. The register partner was in a pissy mood (as always) and refused to explain, so she made it herself. Any guesses on what this mythical drink was?

What was it?

[corvalis]

I had someone order an iced cappuccino the other day... She wanted equal parts of espresso and milk poured over ice with a bunch of foam on top.

[deusx]

Thats not a cappuccino, thats a latte with extra foam. Not to mention how repulsive foam would be over ice. I blame Tim Hortons and crappy baristas everywhere for training customers to think that a short latte in a grande cup with milk foam floating on top is a cappuccino.

[Barista to the Stars]

A properly made cappucino, per Starbuck's standard, is prepared "free pour". Freshly steamed milk combines with the shots to produce a drink that is equal parts milk and foam. NEVER should a cappucino be prepared as milk foam spooned on top of a latte. Yuck.

I've seen baristas at my store do it but I always fresh steam the milk and prepare the cappucino properly.

As for iced cappucino, blame Quick Trip and gas stations everywhere who serve an iced coffee like beverage and call it "cappucino". The customers who order these are the same ones who complain that their cup is 1/2 full.

Barista to the Stars

[noareyou]

The use of specific drink names or lingo doesn't make me "feel bad about myself" folks (naturally I must need therapy if I disagree with you). I just thought I'd pipe up because I'm not a Starbucks regular. As Starbucks outlets creep into the lives of more "average" people, it would just be nice to see a little more accessibility on the menu. You can't put your counter inside Target and then be surprised by new, unfamiliar customers.

[deusx]

Starbucks doesn't put their counters in Targets, those stores are 100% owned by Target, like the ones in Barnes and Noble are 100% owned by B&N. I'm fairly certain if you took the time to look, they state that.
As for accessibility, Starbucks has it's own lingo for it's products, much like any other business. Do you get corrected when you walk into Burger King and ask for a "Big Mac"? How about Gap store and asking for Tommy Hilfinger jeans? They are both hamburgers and blue jeans, yet they are named differently. Starbucks is no more inaccessible than any other retail company. This isn't about what Starbucks names it's products, it's about the hostility lent to anyone who is successful in this country. Many people find reasons to be offended by success, most without realizing the artificiality of the hostility.

[Nicholaus]

I'm so sick of the "I always get an attitude when I ask for a medium" comments...

Find a new original argument because you are full of shit. I've worked at three stores in four years across the country, and have picked up shifts at numerous other stores, and not once have I ever witnessed someone giving a customer a hard time about the lingo.

Honestly, we know what you mean when you ask for small, medium or large, and we don't give you shit for it. Quit trying to be Jerry Seinfeld in your "and what's with Starbucks lingo???" routine. It's insulting to everyone's intelligence, and it's neither true nor original.

As for tipping, I work in a downtown store in one of the 10 largest cities in the country. I know a lot of regular customers, and a whole slew of them don't tip. I even play poker regularly with one of them who refuses to tip. WE DON'T CARE!!! I'm not working at Starbucks for $1.50 an hour in tips. That's not even 15% of my pay there. I'm working at Starbucks because even for a corporation (I'm generally anti big business) they take care of us, and do good things to help others. One example is that they've became one of the top 25 purchasers of wind energy in the United States, replacing 5% of their annual energy use with wind energy. Why don't other corporations do this? Because they have no obligation to! Starbucks is committed to social issues, and I'm proud of that.

If you don't want to tip, fine we never expect it. But to spend your time and energy getting pissed off about the practice? Jesus you need to get laid, and get on the decaf!

If you have problems with my statements, come find me, I'll be the one having a good time at work talking with customers and co-workers alike, and trying to put a smile on their faces because it makes the day go by better. Actually don't come find me, just stay out of Starbucks altogether. I'd rather see people who aren't angry at the world and take it out on others.

[FlippyO]

Hey Patrick, I almost always tip my favorite baristas (and give them occasional gifts), but if I didn't tip and you "mabey"[sic] gave me caffeine on purpose, you'd never see me again. Oh, and I'd write a letter to your manager. Caffeine makes some people sick, twit.

[Don]

Just wanted to clear this up, people said that at other fast food jobs they had to put up with the same customers. Not exactly, first off we offer a luxury food item at our stores. We offer premium quality coffee, at a premium quality price. Furthermore, we are not like McDonald's, BK, Carl's Jr. or any other type of workers. We are always willing to go the extra mile for you, without saying a word about it. I've even gone home and researched products from other companies and attempted to recreate drinks that people wanted. I've driven to another store to pick up product for a customer, these people should tip. I would not expect a server at McDonald's to drive to the one across town to get me a milkshake I wanted, but I would expect a barista to do it for me.

[JudyJetson]

I agree with Nicholaus concerning the comment made by Cornfrost on September 3.

A friend of mine had a heard attack at the age of 35. Shortly after her heart attack, she had a pacemaker put in her chest to "kick-start" her heart if it stopped beating again, which it has done quite a few times now.

This friend loves coffee, and taught me the difference between good coffee and colored water.

This friend can no longer drink caffeinated coffee.

If she was to be given coffee with caffeine in it, her heart could be adversely affected.

Please. . . even if it was a joke, and more if it wasn't a joke. . . you do not know what could effect someone else's very life.

If they want decaf, please don't fill the empty space with what's in the "other pot".

[JudyJetson]

Ooops, not Cornfrost. . . but Patrick. Sorry Cornfrost!

[cornfrost]

I would never give regular coffee to someone who ordered decaf. I am not gratuitously malicious. But some brain-dead partners in my store have been known to fill the regular hopper with decaf and vice versa. And I'm sure some things are mislabeled. Mistakes do happen.

[cornfrost]

And that iced tall dry cappuccino? It was an inch of milk, one shot, some ice and then foam to the top.

[TheSkinsFactory]

As far as tipping goes, before i started my art studio i waited tables/bartended for 7 years... people who don't tip at Starbucks are just cheap. It's not fast food, it's more like being a bartender. Just tip people.

[LaLa]

"Tips are important to most baristas. If you've ever worked in a service industry job like a Starbucks or a restaurant, you know how much manual labor is involved, how much drudgery, how many jerk customers -- and you'd never argue against tipping." (B Rista)

I have worked in the food service industry (non-tipped) and also in the retail industry. You wouldn't tip your Ann Taylor sales associate, would you? I can tell you that THAT was a "drudge" job with very bitchy customers as well. Try burn marks all over your arms from the steamer, back aching from lifting heavy boxes wearing "regulation" high heels, and smiling and saying "happy holidays" to the evil women who assume that just because you're the "hired help," that you have no education or ambitions and are expendable human waste. But hey...I never got a tip from a single customer. Then again, I never expected one: I did the job I was hired to do the way I was trained to do it and was compensated by my employer. I was paid to give the same professional, courteous treatment to the mean people and the angel customers alike. I've now moved on to grad school and a full-time office job, and I'm always friendly and polite to baristas and service professionals of all trades. But I don't supplement their income with tips: that's their employers' jobs. I do tip (15-25%, depending on service) at sit-down restaurants because that is how those employees make money. (Hairdressers as well: they pay "rent" to the salon owners to work there!)

There are just times when tipping is acceptable and times when it is not. It is not acceptable at Starbucks. I will always be nice to you, baristas! I will always appreciate good service. I will bake you cookies during the holidays and point out stellar service to your management. But I will not tip you: that is up to your employers, not to me.

[Barista to the Stars]

I just love all the santimonious crap that people like to post to justify their cheapness. Obviously, LaLa, tipping IS acceptable at Starbuck's -- many, aside from you, do it. Don't try to tell me or anyone else that it isn't acceptable. YOU don't make the rules at Starbuck's.

I'm not going to bother to try and compare drudgery of job or bitchiness of customers with you -- 'cause it's depressing and pointless. No matter what you may believe, the bad side of working at Starbuck's is bad. But that's not why people tip -- THAT is what you, and others of your ilk don't get.

We get tipped because somebody somewhere started the tradition of tipping for excellent service. That's right, someone appreciated their barista and dropped a dollar in a cup. So, no matter how much HS wants to turn Starbuck's into the Walgreen's of coffee (one on every corner) the tradition continues. For those who get that Starbuck's is NOT fast food, it's a gourmet coffee house, and understand the concept, they recognize and use the tip jar. For those who are drawn in by the ubiquity of Starbuck's or the marketing of Starbuck's; they are offended.

They sniff, "I worked my way up at crappy jobs and nobody tipped me -- why should I tip them?" or "It's not my job to supplement their income." The same arguement could be made for any tipped employee -- I tip the bartender who makes my drinks; the bellman who carries my bags to the front desk; the cabdriver who gets me where I need to go......on and on and on. None of these people make the horrifying $2.12 an hour that servers make but I tip them nonetheless because it's what is done and I appreciate the job that they do to make my life a little more comfortable.

Starbuck's is a great company to work for but you can't make it on $7.00 an hour. For some employees, tips buy food or gas or pay a bill. I'm talking good baristas who work hard who I would personally like to see stick around for awhile. Not that, heaven forbid, LaLa you are responsible for supplementing their income but you should know that the tips add up and help out people who exist on very little.

But, hey, honey -- if that 50 cents will make that much of a difference in your life, please, keep it. Buy yourself another pair of Ann Taylor heels.

[LaLa]

Barista to the Stars:

I am not "cheap" because I do not tip in monetary form. Being "cheap" would be trying to weasel extras for free or stealing from the condiment bar. I don't do crap like that. I pay for what I get, I say "thank you" for good service, I clean up after myself, and I return to establishments that give me good service. I am a good customer. I am not cheap.

Do you tip your sanitation workers, Barista to the Stars?
Do you tip your mail carrier?
Do you tip the employee who makes your movie popcorn?
Do you tip the person who prepares your taxes?
Do you tip lawyers?
Policemen and policewomen?

Do you tip everyone--EVERYONE--who does an outstanding job in your day-to-day life?

Do you tip the city employees who clean up your back yard after an ice storm? How about your dry cleaners?

I bet you thank these people. I bet your very polite to them. I bet during the holiday season, you even bake them cookies or some other really nice gesture.

But I bet you don't tip them. Each and every time they give you great service.

Until you do THAT, get off your soapbox (congratulations for knowing the word "ilk") and go make my iced grande vanilla latte. Because that is what you are paid to do. And if you or YOUR "ilk" mess up my drink on purpose because I didn't tip your entitlement-issue-ridden ass, then you don't deserve to work for Starbucks.

Lala

don't tip for just getting what you expect.

iced grande whatever.

tip for the intangibles that make your day better, personal recognition by a barista or anyone else that serves you etc.

tip for above and beyond, not just the expected.

if you look at it like that you might realize why you didn't get tips at the cosmetic counter. I tip for great, don't tip for bad and sometimes tip for good.

Don't summarily close your mind to tipping. It jsut makese you look narrow minded and cynical.

[CT]

I'm working in Australia and as a barista for Sbux, I think there is nothing wrong about giving the tips and please don't tell me we don't deserve it. I appreciate those people who gave me the tips and for return, I'll always ensure those people to enjoy their beverage with a smile on their face. If you think the baristas are just ordinary employees like Mc Donald's, then you'll never get a drink with beautiful coffee art on it. Coffee art is not a Sbux standard but it's a way for us to express our appreciation to you. Just like Deusx said, barista is very identical to bartender, we don't expect the tips but we appreciate it.

[LaLa]

I have never said I have a problem with tipping at Sbux. Tip if you want to, don't tip if you don't. I'm a good, appreciative customer and I tip in "thank yous" and patience in the long lines.

I DO have a problem with the sense of entitlement I get from reading so many of these Barista comments.

Calling me "cheap" because I don't tip? Even though I am a polite, patient, return customer? Customers are your lifeblood. Without "cheap" customers like me, Starbucks would not exist.

What, would you rather have an a**hole customer who throws 12 cents in the jar and talks on his cell while you take his order? Who then whines and tries to get a bogus freebie because his drink wasn't "extrahot?"

Appreciate your good customers. I appreciate my good baristas.