Two things made me feel good about myself today. Turned out I needed them because last night I got into a fight with Jake over the garbage no less and some of the things he said just really struck me as atrocious and I've been irritated ever since.

Then today I got yelled at by two customers and nearly attacked by a third. Boy, did I forget why I quit customer service. The third customer was upset because, of all things, I had the audacity to put cinnamon on top of his iced cappuccino, which is the way we make them. I think, however, this was only the tip of it given the way he went ballistic on me and the store.

He came in and I said hello, he had no reply, merely looked around and grunted "ICED CAPPUCCINO" at me after he finally acknowledged his presence. So I went to make it, and I was clearly foaming the milk when he grunted "I WANT FOAM." So I'm like, okay, whatever, and finish making the drink. Then I committed the grievous sin so worse that a serial pregnant-mother killer could not match the level of hell my soul is eternally confined to.

I put on the cinnamon.

"NO!" he screamed, nearly making me spill the drink all together. "NO. NEVER, you NEVER put cinnamon on the drink unless they ask."

I should interject that the amount of cinnamon I put on top of this foam was NEGLIGIBLE. It's mearly a garnish, I sincerely defy anyone to taste it.

But I said, clearly perturbed by his reaction, "Oh I apologize sir, that's how we make them."

He screamed, "NO. NOT HERE."

So by now I'm aggravated because it's nine in the morning and I haven't had an iced cappuccino, so I think in my head "oh okay, right, cos you work here," but say "all right sir, I'm sorry." Then I go to the next customer because with all of this ridiculousness a line has formed to the door. He doesn't quite shove the woman I was talking to out of the way as move himself in front of her and say "NO, I want you to fix this."

So I say, "Okay sir, you're going to have to wait just a moment," because no one shoves my customers but me. His response is to knock the drink over the counter and fling the glass at the mini-fridge next to me. "Now you can give me back my fucking money!"

Pissed so much my hands are shaking I throw his 5.00 bill back at him and say goodbye. He mutters something about seeing me again in a second. Whatever.

I take care of the customers and clean up the mess. He comes back.

To say he was on a rampage is being coy.

He flung canisters of milk and half-and-half out of his way, knocked over a display of cookies, and started slamming his hands against the counter screaming "You're a fucking asshole, you can't fucking treat people this way."

My eyes have bugged straight out of my skull and I very resolutely slam a bag of coffee beans next to his fists on the counter. He shuts up. I say very calmly and confidently, "You need to calm down NOW or I'm calling the police."

He spits in my general direction. "Fucking call them then!" I walk purposefully towards the phone and pick it up.

"Would you like me to? Would you like the police to show up for a three dollar iced drink because I put cinnamon on it?" His nostrils flare for his only reply. I say, in the same clear tone of voice as before, "Now, I am happy to make you whatever drink you'd like, cinnamon or no, but you are going to need to lower your voice, and you're going to need to stand over there calmly until I'm finished. Am I clear?" I can tell he's seconds from snapping but some reason in his brain prevails and he says, at a normal tone now, "Fine. Iced cappuccino." Throughout all of this the customers who haven't already gotten up and left the store because it looked like I was going to be shot are staring at the man in wide-eyed terror. I should say that he was probably six feet tall and three hundred pounds and could probably crush my head under his eyelid. I make his drink while he curses about what an asshole I am under his breath. At one point he reiterates that I have no right to treat people "this way," whatever way that is, just as my manager (who wasn't present for any of it before) walks through the front door and hears the tail end of his blabbering and my reply of: "Sir, however slighted you might have felt from my seasoning problem did in no way justify the way you destroyed my store. If you'd like I can throw this drink away and we can go back to calling the police." My manager just looked forward and walked straight to the back.

He did, however, come back about an hour later for another iced drink and to apologize profusely for how he acted. I found out also that after I'd left for the day he came back again and apparently burst into tears when he said how sorry he was. Insane people, I swear.

But then I got home and found a very nice and sweet email from a reader that made me happy, and right under that was an email from a boy I met some time ago and wouldn't sleep with because he does crystal meth and I've made a resolution to have nothing to do with people who have anything to do with that drug however "socially." He told me that he wanted to thank me for my principles and resolve and knowing exactly what I want and what I'd stand for, because that drove him to start seeing a drug counselor and he hasn't used anything in months.

I dunno. I guess C.S. is right, I might not affect change all over the planet in one swoop but knowing that I'd affected two random people enough for them to bother emailing me about it made crazy cappuccino man not so annoying. The self esteem boost made me smile.

Entry last modified: April 14, 2006 at 1:39 pm.

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