OPEN THREAD conversation-starter: Should a guy be embarrassed to order a Pumpkin Spice Latte?

One of my male Facebook friends posted that he was looking forward to getting a Pumpkin Spice Latte today, and somebody then commented: "I'm taking away your MANcard!" I guess I never thought of ordering a PSL being similar to asking for an umbrella drink at the local bar. What's the female-male ratio for PSL orders? Guys, do you order PSLs without shame? Discuss PLS and MANcards, or anything Starbucks-related in the OPEN THREAD.

Comments

[Noah]

Only if he is wearing a skirt.

[Jmo]

I don't think so...it seems silly to me when guys refer to even vanilla lattes as fu-fu drinks. Get over your insecurities and drink what you like fellas.

[Al]

That's the dumbest thing I ever heard. I love the PSL, just had one yesterday.

[Jeff Tom]

No. Getting a soy, no whip PSL will get your man card revoked. Otherwise, no problem.

[Confused as always]

Which one is the mancard?

[spence]

No shame in getting any drink which only requires 2 adjustments (extra shots EXcluded.

[civilized indeed!]

If you're ordering "coffee" from a Starbucks, you've already lost your mancard.

Head on out to a local coffee place, that actually makes good coffee without any of the crap that Starbucks needs to add so people will drink it. You wonder why Pumpkin Spice flavor has to be added? Simply put, Starbucks coffee is, at best, subpar.

[Daily Doppio]

Thats really stupid. About a third of our customers are male that order PSL, usually a vente. I also see a lot of couples, young and old ordering them.

[Anything with pumpkin is FAIL]

Yes

[Kacey]

The only thing that ordering a PSL says about you is that you're awesome. Simple as that.

[Denise]

My husband orders my Pumpkin Spice Lattes for me. I hold onto his man card. Then we make an exchange: his man card for my Pumpkin Spice Latte.

[It's 2011...]

Really? This is really worthy of a thread?

[Ian]

Don't forget about the iced venti decaf nonfat no whip pumpkin spice latte. According to some people, that must give you a "woman card" (?). Actually, what is meant by "card"?

[ash_sk8s]

No, but I am totally annoyed that a PSL in my area is $4.55 for a grande. 80 cents more than a flavored latte or mocha. Insane.

[Jeff l]

It is OK as long as their is no straw coming out of it.

[dontmindme]

Be thankful ... a grande psl in Chicago is 5.01

[ash_sk8s]

I just don't think the seasonal drinks need to cost more than regular drinks. There's no tax where I am, otherwise it would be a bit more. ;-)

[Kate]

Grande PSL is $5.26 here!

[Streakn_it]

Kate where is that?

[Hurdy Gurdy Man]

I'm secure enough in my manhood and old enough to order any damn drink I want to. People..... Don't worry about what other people think about you as long as you are doing no wrong.

[Ricardo McJiggis]

As long as the straw isn't flesh color, I'm ok with it!

[Waltie]

If you use expressions like, "taking away your mancard," you don't have the right to mock somebody for ordering a pumpkin spice latte. You're probably just a tool.

[leftinthebottomoftheroaster]

Being a man means being decisive, knowing what you want, knowing how to get it, and not giving a single fark what other people think about it. So no, this dude doesn't lose his man card.

At my store, I'd say it's 50/50

[Kate]

Victoria, British Columbia :-)
Kate

[James Connolly]

Waltie echoes my opinion on this one.

[spence]

I have noticed when men order a fru fru drink, they are more likely to lower their voice. Now, if they are ordering extra shots, everyone in the store hears them.

[Gilgamesh]

I don't think the PSL is a girly drink, but I do find it a little amusing when a guy orders a Strawberries and Cream Frappuccino.

[Ian]

And my store is all out of pumpkin spice; hopefully it won't be for the season, much like coconut was (as in, we only got one shipment of coconut). Also. Why the hell do people still assume that we have coconut? We had it once, for two weeks in the summer. And it was marked as a promo item on the board. What the heck. It's frustrating, especially with those people who act like I am hiding all of the bottles of it for myself.

[rpm]

@ian
If you are out of product that you need to make promo items within the promo periods, there has been some sort of breakdown or failure in your inventory management. Talk to your store manager

[Patrick]

def gay

[big papi ;)]

if his pussy is wet

[Paul Fallavollita]

I ordered a PSL over ice the day it came out this year. And I'm strong enough to hold on to my own man card.

[Adam]

I live in Vienna, Austria and recently asked one of the local Starbucks baristas if and when they would have the PSL. Sadly no pumpkin he said. They had it two years ago and no one's palate here could fathom or appreciate its North American goodness. And trust me when I say there is nothing he-man, tool time, neanderthal Monday Night Football about Austria. Then again, correlation isn't causation. [anyone want to mail me a PSL?]

[CoreyClayton]

Real men drink eggnog lattes.

[GREGORYABUTLER]

If you actually think that ordering a flavored beverage would somehow jeopardize you're masculinity, I'm sorry for you.

By the way, what the hell is this "MAN card" that I always hear the dudebros and the insecure men babbling on about.

I have a mustache, a penis and Y chromosomes - I don't need a "card" to be a man, thank you very much!

[red cup]

this is a dumb thread.

[Starbucks Gossip webmaster]

Um, it's an OPEN thread, Red Cup. Perhaps you can steer it in an un-dumb direction.

[toolongashift]

What do you guys think of the shift pillars? To me it really seems like a way to push off manager duties on to shifts so managers can be on more conference calls, which I'm sure are as effective as the shift pillar meetings. What's your experience with these?

[spence]

SHIFT PILLAR MEETINGS??? Tell me more, please since I have a shift meeting coming up.

[Exocarp]

Real men light up a cigarette inside Starbucks while enjoying their black coffee (no cream / sugar - it's gay), and wait for the cops to come when I refuse to put it out.

[toolongashift]

@spence- it's been in place for about nine months now. Basically, there are four pillar

1. Business- (ordering, cash management, etc)
2. Customer- (QASA and Customer Voice)
3. Partner- (community service, partner appreciation, etc)
4. Coffee at home (Drive coffee sales, educate partners on coffee, passports etc).

Basically, when you are one of these pillars, the manager turns this entire area over to you and you learn how to do this from the shift that had it before you. The manager then washes their hands from these activities to sit in the back room on conference calls. You don't get any extra labor/time to do your tasks.

Your first shift meeting?

[spence]

@toolongashift: Thank you. You are right. We've been doing that for a while. I just didn't realize it had a name. I was concerned at the next meeting that more work was coming my way and I have no time to spare. Not so much as a minute.

[dontmindme]

Calling something gay that has nothing to do with sexual orientation is downright sad, and is a sure sign that you are uneducated.

[STL_Nick]

I Think it's stupid to call it gay, but at my store there is definitely a much bigger percentage of girls who get it versus guys. It's not out of the ordinary for a guy to order one, but the discrepancy is so large that I definitely refer to it as a "Girly" drink.

[Coffee Soldier]

We seem to have many more customers this year just ordering the sauce into regular coffee. We are still selling about 90-100 a day of the actual PSL but we are in Dunkin territory and I guess they have pumpkin spice coffee being advertised big time so now customers want that but from us!

[promotedtocustomer]

Dare they order a muffin with their PSL!

[perky shift]

My favorite was a shift I covered at another local Starbucks in Northern Virginia. On Thursday evenings in the summer they have a bikers group that meets in the parking lot.
MANY of these guys ordered Frappuccinos.
It just made me smile...

[Wendy]

Sounds like whomever is ready to start "revoking" man-cards might need to taste the PSL before he acts. He might change his mind! :)

[joe]

that is a foo foo drink if I ever heard of one.

[Jersey]

I only giggle at the men who order a soy PSL..... We get a couple of those here and there. Maybe they are lactose intolerant... But it still sounds funny :)