side comment on PBUR and pseudomochas

[jay]

Most mornings I now stop by the neighborhood coffee shop on my way to the office... ordering my espresso-and-water -and-chocolate syrup pseudo-mocha. No problem, after the first couple of times I had to explain "like a regular mocha, but with water instead of milk" (I'm on a calcium-reduced diet).

But instead of just asserting "I want this, done that way", I'd instead chat up the women behind the counter... ask how they were doing, if it had been busy, why they wore red holiday shirts on some days and not others... things peripheral to actually getting that day's caffeine ration. Not lengthy chats, just 30 seconds or so.

As a result... the baristas there recognize me, smile, wave... they start working on my drink as soon as I walk in, without my asking, and it is ready for pickup as soon as I've paid and checked-in personally in brief. Lately, a couple have stopped charging me the extra $0.30 for the mocha syrup add-on, shrugging it off when I pointed out the undercharge.

Being a regular customer undoubtedly makes a difference... but so does the business-relationship-maintenance, which the "pleasant" part conveys. I treat them as people and with their own stories and respectfully, and after awhile they extend their hand (inasmuch as the context permits). Simply ordering my coffee every day would still get me my coffee, but I'd wait longer, pay more, and I'd miss the brief social interaction.

Comments

[geekchick]

Also, tangentially:

Are "nice" and "honest" mutually exclusive? (from "Creating Passionate Users").

[brian1789.livejournal.com]

Oooh... that was/is quite a catfight. Congruent nastiness, but there's a point... if blogging means being gratuitously insulted and having to have a thick skin, many fewer people will do so.