Sunday, May 31, 2009

A thief or a saint?

If possible when in the USA, around 10.30 in the morning a stop is made.
To have a coffee in a Starbucks Café.
A café latté.
A lot of foamy milk and some coffee.

The coffee is good at Starbucks.
And always it is comfortable.
When the weather is nice, there are chairs and tables outside.
When the weather is wet and cool, there are comfortable tables and chairs inside.

Another advantage of Starbucks is that they sell for $ 1.50 the newspaper called “The New York Times”.
A very good newspaper.

Yesterday, in El Cajon a Starbucks was visited.
The usual order was placed.
A café latté and a newspaper.
Most of the time they ask in a Starbucks the name of the customer.
So they can call your name when the coffee is ready.

Often the tendency is noticed to say:
“My name is Beatrice”.
Or “Jacqueline”.
Reflecting this constant urge to have a laugh in life.
But these Starbucks employees, who are not allowed to be members of a labour union and who are paid not much more than $ 10 an hour, usually are not the kind of people who like jokes.
They work fast and furious within the company guidelines so they won’t take no BS from any guy imposing as a Beatrice or a Jacqueline.

A pity because it would be nice to see the Starbucks clientele watch in amazement when a manly guy walks up to the counter when “Jacqueline” is informed her café latté is ready.

In El Cajon’ Starbucks a strange situation occurred.
After the coffee was obtained it was realized that the employee had forgotten to make the customer pay for the “New York Times”.
Moving to a table the thought was spinning in the head that the situation was not fully correct.

Now, what to do?
Nobody was noticing that the newspaper was not paid for.
So, basically nothing was the matter.
A mistake and confusion when paying hence now coffee and a free newspaper.
But if life is love, isn’t this a taint on the sheet of the virgin?
Aren’t we supposed to pay for what we get?
Even if it is a $ 1.50 newspaper?

The decision was made to give Starbucks and The New York Times what they were entitled to.
Not that it would boost their profits in an important way.
But to have things clear and clean.
And that is worth a fortune.

The girl at the counter was busy.
A line of several customers waiting to place their orders.
But a Starbucks man was on the side.
The manager.
Counting the money.
He was approached and informed that a mistake had happened.
And in front of him was put $ 1.50.

He immediately responded negatively.
“No, no, I can’t accept that money!
You must go and stand in line to pay”.

So now the holy and saintly customer, wishing to purify the love in his life, be as correct as possible, not wanting to be a thief, had to go and stand in line for 5 to 10 minutes to pay for the newspaper.
While his coffee would get cold.

What would you do in this situation, fervent and loyal blog reader?
Send your answer as a comment and inform us about your inventivity or diplomacy.




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7 comments:

. said...

I would have had my coffee first, then tried to pay, if he had said that to me, i would have just left the money on the counter.

regards,

chris

. said...

I would have had my coffee first, then tried to pay, if he had said that to me, i would have just left the money on the counter.

regards,

chris

Dawn Pier said...

well now, this is really not that difficult a situation Michel. And I know you are super creative, so I think you already have a lovely and loving answer for us.

However, if it was me, and there was a line up, then I would have sat down and enjoyed my coffee and the newspaper and wait until the line disappeared or I would return the next day for another cafe latte and pay for two newspapers...there is no rush after all. Your karma will remain intact in the meantime.

Fred Wishnie said...

I actually believe that stores make more mistakes in their favor than the customers. When I discover mistakes in their favor, it's usually after the fact and not worth the effort to return for the nominal correction. So faced with your dilemma, I would have enjoyed the paper and be done with it.

Definitely after confronting management and being given a bureaucratic response like you were, I wouldn't have made any further effort.

Fred

RonMack said...

Michael,
As I recall, you and I are about the same age. My time is becoming more important (while still being a working person, and not retired)as the days go by. I would politely inform the unconsiderate manager that the salesperson had made the mistake, not myself. Why should I be the recipient of the thivery (my time). I would give him one more change to allow for the correction by informing him that I had already stood in line my allotted time. And if he would not take immediate payment, I would tuck the paper under my arm and move on out of the scene.

Anonymous said...

When the manager refused your offer to pay for the paper without standing in line, I think your obligation to pay ended.

Rajendar Menen said...

Don't worry about all this. Read the paper, put it on the table, have your coffee and leave. Sometimes bills are in your favour, and sometimes not -- like cricket!!