Bye bye, Tie Guy
A coupla weeks ago I did a seminar on ‘The Secret Art of Managing Your Boss’ for a local association. Along with the Olive Garden buffet and the little bag of goodies, they flowed a Starbucks gift card my way.
I’m more of a local coffeeshop guy, but I can’t argue with free. So I started using the card this week. Today I went to the Starbucks that’s closest to my office and it reminded me of why I don’t go to malls. Too many people in one small space. In true Northwest style, though, everyone was pretty chill while waiting for their coffee to be made. And we all felt a bit of communal corporate pity when the Tie Guy showed up.
Tie Guy rolled in out of the rain, with his hand on his bluetooth headset (if you don’t put your hand on it, people might not notice it) and his suit and tie. I felt a collective sense of discomfort among the other folks waiting for coffee…here it was, a rainy Friday, and this dude comes in wearing a suit and tie. He’d clearly made some vocational missteps along his career path. Plus, the end of his (very nice) tie hung about three inches below his belt. It was clownish and sad–he just didn’t know any better.
Since we were all busy feeling a little awkward with Tie Guy in our midst, nobody raised a stink when he informed the cashier that he needed his coffee RIGHT NOW. He did this covertly by vigorously pointing down at the ground, while never removing his hand from the headset. The cashier, silly girl, mistakenly interpreted the sign language to mean "I’ll drink it here." When she said "for here?", Tie Guy was forced to utter his demand that his order must be expedited. He needed "front of the line" service. Which, to Starbucks’ credit, he got. With at least six people waiting in front of him, his order came up first. Maybe not fast enough, because as Tie Guy moved from the ordering area to the "here’s your drink" area, he examined the two cups already taking up counter space to see whether they were his. They weren’t, which the barista calmly explained. His order came up quickly though, and he was outta there. Never took his hand off the headset.
See ya, Tie Guy.
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POSTED IN: customer service
5 opinions for Bye bye, Tie Guy
serotoninrain
Dec 3, 2005 at 5:28 am
at big green it’s a tie (and blather)
tie guys and blazer gals at your local Sbux, ruining it for everybody.
Rich
Dec 5, 2005 at 6:57 am
Good post Bren. I hate that guy!
codebrew
Dec 5, 2005 at 7:17 am
I come to this site often via feedburner. For the past couple of weeks or so the page that is set up to display a single posting with comments needs an html tweak … it display very poorly in an IE browser. All of your content is shoved to the bottom of the page while all of your navigation remains at the top. Just a heads up.
larosa23
Dec 5, 2005 at 11:02 am
Well at least tie guy is at Starbucks where he belongs and and not invading the serenity of MY favorite coffee shop.
Rich
Dec 5, 2005 at 12:32 pm
You North-Westies are spoiled. Out here on Long Island, in New York, Starbucks is as good as it gets. Your next best option is 7-11, which really can’t hold a candle to Starbucks in terms of coffee quality. Unfortunately, it often seems to come with the loud jackass on his cell phone.