There are three Starbucks I frequent during my work week.
My favorite one is nearest to my house, at the start of my daily 45 minute commute to work. I arrive there anywhere between 630 and 700, depending on how long I take to get ready.
I am almost embarrassed to say this, but I have a fondness for one of my baristas. He's tall, he's dark haired, he's scruffy, wears dark rimmed glasses. But that's not all. He remembers my drink, every single time.
I know, I know, it's their JOB to remember my drink. Hell, I go there so often I'm almost offended if they don't.
But he not only remembers my drink, he remembers little facts about me. He remembers when I'm supposed to come in and if I'm late, he asks if everything's ok. I didn't come by for an entire week and when I came back in, he asked me where I had been. He asked me questions about what I do for a living. He gives me snarky attitude that makes the managers look at him funny, then look at me to gauge my response (which is, of course, smitten. I am the QUEEN of snark).
Yesterday, NotMiranda and I stopped by for a cool drink to get us some energy for DSW. There were five people working that day and I didn't see my dark haired coffee stallion. I resigned myself to be rung up by the cute, albeit 17 year old blonde clerk, when who should appear through the service door but him.
He gives blondie a look, then comes to the register I'm standing in front of, heaving bucket of ice in his arms, and starts to take my order.
"what are you doing here? it's not 6 in the morning! same thing as usual? hot or cold?"
i stumble out my response, making small talk with him as NotMiranda smirks at the back of my head. I had told her about my starbucks bf before and she was putting two and two together.
He writes my order on the cup and rings me up, then goes right back to his ice filling job.
The drink barista grabs my cup and reads it aloud and from the back storage area, he yells "and make sure it's non-fat!"
I know it's silly for me to be slightly enamoured by a caffeine slinging hunk of a man, but seriously, it's working.
My question for you, dear readers, is how do I take it to the "next level" without ruining my lovely starbucks experience? I'd like to at least find out his name, maybe see if he's single, but what if it goes awry?
I guess what I'm getting at is, do I jeopardize my favorite starbucks on the off chance that I could get a real date out of it?
12 comments:
It sounds as though he's being a little flirtatious with you. Start by asking his name. How could this be bad?
I don't like it when they try to guess my drink. It makes me feel predictable. I like to change it up.
I think that if he was interested he'd already have made his move and asked for your number, etc. You've become one of his fave customers, but flirting doesn't mean he's into you, esp. if you work in a customer service industry b/c you find that flirting works best for tips. I'd continue to feel out the situation and see if he actually drops hints about being interested in you.
diane mandy- I think I shall!
notcarrie- i don't consider it predictability, i consider it them anticipating my needs.
anonymous- good point, however during any given week, I only see him about 2 or 3 times and it's ALWAYS busy. I've decided to step it up a little bit and be more conversational the next time I see him.
I think you should, indeed, be a bit more conversational, and see where it goes.
try going to that starbucks when it's a lil less crowded? maybe then you and your dark haired coffee stallion can chat a lil more...
Me, being creepy, would try to stalk him and figure out when he takes breaks. Do 'bucks people take breaks in the actual cafe? I don't know, but if you just *happen* to waltz in while he's on break, it's not so weird if you sit down and chat for a few minutes to see if he's into having an actual conversation.
While I agree that service people do often flirt for non-romantic purposes, it would also be awkward for him to ask you out, no? I mean, you're a regular, and if you shut him down, he (unlike you) does not have the option of frequenting another Starbucks...
Or use my favourite barista line: "I'm at such a disadvantage here... you've got my drink totally memorized! You need to let ME get YOU a coffee sometime, to even the score!" (If you try it, let me know how it works. In theory it's brilliant, but of course I've never used it...)
as a former starbucks barista, let me tell you: when we're that interested in your drink and we're around your age, we're flirting with you. f'real. i used to do it all the time, and i still do, except now I'M the customer. so asking the name is nooo big deal, a lot of people do it and we're supposed to ask your name anyway, i'm surprised he hasn't yet! ask his and say hi, and then ask him if he ever wants to hang out some time. it sounds a lot more ballsy then you might be brave enough to be, but it gets to the point and it's still considered friendly without being all "i want to sex you up." i have met some great people who are now still close friends of mine through starbucks, and my fiance and i met while working together... at starbucks. my former manager met his wife at starbucks. two of my former customers met at starbucks, and are now married with their first little starbucks baby. you get the picture. beautiful things can happen, and if its a dud, move on to the next barista-bf, because there are plenty to go around.
anonymous: flirting works for tips at restaurants, but at starbucks you're lucky if you get a quarter. most people don't even know they're supposed to tip! so flirting is great customer service that sometimes leads to hot dates, and there's nothing wrong with that.
A starbucks baby! What a good idea.
Ladies, good news... he asked me my name yesterday!
Things are starting to progress!!
Congrats on the progression! I agree with jo about going in at a less busy time of day. Maybe you can get a little more convo out of him.
Congrats on him asking youre name. Things are progressing.
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