Friday, December 10, 2004
I dropped by my store to pick up directions to the party this evening. As I pulled into the parking lot, I noticed that the store was dark. Very dark.
As it turned out, the power was out. The electrician had been working on our Starbucks sign earlier in the day; then, in the evening, right around the time that the outside lights come on, the power mysteriously went out.
You know, I've been waiting for two years for the power to go out inexplicably, and it never has. Now, when it does, it's not on my shift!!
Anyway. After I had collected my directions, and was headed to leave, a short, well-dressed woman came and knocked on the door. I was obviously not working, but I figured the woman deserved an explanation as to why the doors were locked and the lights out.
What she really deserved was a punch in the throat, but I didn't know that yet.
I opened the door and explained the situation.
"Oh, really?" she said incredulously. "Funny how you're the only ones without power."
I again explained that it had to do with our overhead sign, meaning that it was isolated to our store, and that the electricians were on their way.
"Well," she continued, "you're going to do something for me. I need to get some coffee for the morning, so I don't have to come up here in my pajamas at 7am."
"We can't access the registers due to the outage, so I can't ring you up. And all our machinery is down, so I'm unable to make you a free drink."
She gave me one of those evil smiles and said, "You can give me some coffee."
"No, ma'am," I said, "I can't. But--"
"I'll leave you cash, or my credit card numbers, and you can ring it up later."
"I'm sorry, I really can't do that," I repeated. "But the Brodie Oaks Starbucks is just down the road--"
"I'm not driving there, that's a MILE AND A HALF away!" she said impatiently. "You can either give me coffee, or you can let me leave you my credit card numbers and ring it up later."
Flabbergasted, I said, "I'm terribly sorry, but I can't do that."
"You can," she said, now in a huff, "but you won't."
"I'm... sorry?" I would have offered her a service recovery coupon, but she was so rude. "Brodie Oaks is sure to have--"
"I already told you I'm not driving that far; I only live around the corner!" she snapped. "And YOU just lost a customer -- FOR LIFE."
Okay. Tell me, which is more troublesome: leaving your credit card numbers with a bunch of strangers, or driving five minutes to another Starbucks?
Some people, I tell you. It occurred to me later that I could have given her the what-for, since I wasn't on the clock; but since I had acted in the capacity of an employee, it's probably better that I didn't.
I've got my gift, my vodka and cranberry juice, and a pack of Guinness for an underaged employee (I'm such an enabler). All set to par-tay.
I have the day off tomorrow -- my first unrequested Saturday off in simply ages -- which means I can do things like sleep in and edit fic. But most of all, it means I can go to confession in the afternoon.
I have never looked forward to confession before; but I look forward to it today. It occurred to me that I haven't been in about a year (!) which has been a major failing on my part. But I hope to correct it tomorrow. Then, I can take part in the Eucharist on Sunday, without any hesitations or qualms of conscience. I have been missing that sacred nourishment so much from my life; starving myself, if you will. I anticipate it now as a hungry man anticipates a banquet.
For the first time in a long time, Sunday can't come soon enough. And for that, I am so deeply thankful.
| 8:16 PM |
Comments
i pose a question...
if she is so unwilling to go to the brodie oaks starbucks, and is so terrible addicted to caffeine that she tries to coerce you into giving her free coffee (also known as stealing), and lives just around the corner from your store, do you really think "YOU just lost a customer -- FOR LIFE"?
-Hunter-
Who am I? I'm a twenty-two-
