Meanwhile...

My sister works at Starbucks. I’m really glad I don’t work there anymore. Today she told me about this comment card left at her store: “My friend received a Vanilla Bean Frappuccino today that had a non-head style, non-head style (pubic), hair on it.” Sick. It’s nice how they thought of another way to communicate the type of hair, then went right on ahead and clarified anyway. Makes me think of another story involving a limousine that I’m not qualified (or inclined) to relate here. Shudder.

Then she told me about a recent secret-shopper evaluation (known as a ‘snapshot’ in the land of the green mermaid) that was rather unfavorable. The reviewer complained that they were greeted in the drive-thru with, “Hi. Starbucks!” followed by a strained pause. Obviously this employee did not have a proper regard for customer service. (Though I would give them an A+ for efficiency and common sense.) The official appropriate greeting goes something like, “Hi, Welcome To STARbucks!!!!! My name is Amanda! Would you like to try our new Banana-Choco-Coconut Frappuccino Supreme today?!?”

Sheesh. After a year of half-hearted ‘izvolite’s, I’m probably gonna go into shock when confronted with corporate American customer-friendly (i.e. sales heavy) interactions of this nature.