Strange Encounters of the Starbucks Kind

Disclaimer: This encounter occured at a Starbucks that is not my usual Starbucks. (Almost) everyone who works at my usual Starbucks is lovely. The customers are still pretty odd, but the barristas are ... well, they're odd, too. But in a good way.


This happened a few weeks back. It had been a generally crappy day. I was tired and grumpy and had a headache and went to a foreign Starbucks to bide some time before I was meeting someone somewhere to do something. I took my place in the short line and, after the barrista had taken the order of the woman in front of me, he continued to talk to her while ignoring me and my caffeinated-sugared needs. For like two minutes. Grrr.

Now, I had been to this Starbucks before and had a similar (crappy) experience, but apparently I have bad service amnesia because it wasn't until I was being ignored this time that I remembered my previous annoyance at this particular store. (I will not forget again.)

Anyway, after waiting three times longer than necessary for my frappuccino, I trudged across the store--now even more tired and grumpier and, because I was waiting on the caffeine to take care of my headache, still in pain--and drop down into one of their comfy chairs. I pulled out the book I had just bought and started reading.

I hadn't made it through the first chapter (and this was a middle grades book, so that chapter was pretty short) when I heard the woman at the next comfy over say, "There's a picture of you in the paper."

After living in New York for four years, it is my general policy to ignore crazy people/random strangers who try to talk to you in public places. So I kept reading.

Then she said it again. "You're in the paper."

At this point, I realized she had to be speaking to me because there was no one else (except for the bad barristas) in the store. I looked up. She waved a section of newspaper at me and said, "That's you."

Here's the thing: That wasn't me.

At that time my book hadn't even come out yet, so there was even less of a chance of me making the news than there is now (current probability = slim to none). Sticking to my ignore the crazies policy, I smiled and went back to reading.

Your turn. What's the craziest thing that's ever happened to you in a Starbucks/coffee shop/public beverage consuming establishment?

Hugs,
TLC