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The Line Up

What you hear; what you need...

By Kendall Defoe Published 2 years ago 3 min read
The Line Up
Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

• Double-long, black. Nothing inside… Medium? Medium…

• Cappuccino, skim milk. Cinnamon only on top. Do you have Stevia? Yeah, large…

• Just a regular tea for me. No milk. You still have Sweet and Low? Nice…

• Um, just something Pumpkin Spicey. You got that? Medium, right…

• My order is very simple today: almond milk iced coffee. Large and…yes, I will have it with Stevia. You ever wonder why it’s called that? You think the guy who came up with it was named Steve? Just really weird that he… Oh, yes.

• Flat white. You got any croissants? Cheese. Yeah, for here. Large one, too.

• Sorry, I just had to make up my mind. Flat white sounds good. Is it large or medium (board does not say one or the other and I just…)? Okay, medium…to go.

• Yeah, Stevia. Man, I would bet that if you really did your homework you would find out that the guy who came up with it had a really big ego. Or maybe he just hated Nutrasweet and…what’s the other one? Sweet… Sweet… Yeah, and Low. I completely blanked on that one. Right. This is really good by the way. No, nothing now…

• Two large Italian sodas. Blueberry and…cherry and peach? Two mixes in two cups. Large. Too hot for them… You gotta tray for it? Great.

• One hazelnut, medium. What? But the tag on the thing says… Right, okay. You got Irish Crème? Right, regular. Just put in the syrup. And no charge? Nice. Really, really nice.

• Wow, some people really are assholes, right? Like they think the world revolves around them. Maybe that was what Steve went through and he thought he would tell the world that he was going to make something they’d never forget. I’d do the same thing. I’d make sure that the world never forgot me, either. Like I would…

• Three regulars. Medium. Crème in two; cinnamon on the one with no milk. Tray. No sugars. Napkins and stirrers, please.

• Like you have a robot to serve. Can’t people just be nice? Doesn’t it just drive you crazy that people think that the world revolves around them? I know that this is a café, but that doesn’t mean that people can’t be nice, right? Know what I mean? If it were me, I’d just…

• Are you free? Okay, just a dark roast, black, large. Perfect for the morning, right?

• See, that’s what I mean. A decent person; someone who realizes that they are talking to a real human being, not just a machine you press a button on and expect to get what you want. I’d go crazy if that was all I had in front of me. I’d do something to their drink that they would not notice. I’d even follow them and wait ‘til they were so comfortable that I could do something and then let’s see if the world revolves around them. Let’s see if they are still such a smart guy that they put their name on everything when I dig your eyes out and you cannot scream because your mouth is covered and covered and covered… And you can’t see. This is really delicious, thanks. All for now. So good...

• Are you okay? That guy was talking up a storm. Thought that it was your boyfriend or something… Sorry, just a large coffee. It’s all I need in the morning…

Drink?

*

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You can find more poems, stories, and articles by Kendall Defoe on my Vocal profile. I complain, argue, provoke and create...just like everybody else.

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About the Creator

Kendall Defoe

Teacher, reader, writer, dreamer... I am a college instructor who cannot stop letting his thoughts end up on the page. No AI. No Fake Work. It's all me...

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Comments (6)

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  • ThatWriterWoman2 years ago

    Oh customer service, how you annoy me! Brilliantly written as always Kendall!

  • Just reading this made me cringe so much. I just cannot deal with small talk. Lol! But this was a very creative thing to write about! Definitely a horror for me!

  • Ah, the life of a barista (or virtually anyone in the service industry).

  • Mark Gagnon2 years ago

    Entitlement is a disease cured by a large helping of reality.

  • Sid Aaron Hirji2 years ago

    Sad that this is true-people are like this

  • Donna Renee2 years ago

    ☕️Yikes!! 🫣 that guy needs to take a walk or something

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