Blog: A Kind Heart and a Cup of Coffee

In the service industry we deal with all types of personalities every day--some are shy, some chatty, some want to tell you their entire life story while you make their beverage, some want to gossip. And we receive every one of them with a smile and engaging conversation--no matter what.

The first time customer X came in, we blew off her unkind attitude as someone having a bad day. Everyone has a bad day--we all have, and sometimes the next person you see pays the price. We deal with that and move on--we are kind and considerate in the hope of making their day a little brighter, everyone needs a pick-up once in a while.

The second time, we began to wonder, is X just the type of person who feels it is her divine right to treat those of us who serve as second-class citizens? Because there are (thankfully few of) those people who feel  it is expected and acceptable to treat service industry workers with sub-human indignation, and that’s ok too. We move on again and serve those customers with the same love and grace of those who genuinely care for our happy faces and the way we make a wonderful coffee drink.

But time after time she returns to our happy little café, where 99 percent of the clientele are interesting, engaging and NICE people, and she  is mean. I’m not talking just a little bit, I’m talking full-blown, make even the strongest of us stutter with fear, rude. It boggles the mind. And after the initial shock of it all, we start to feel a little sorry for this woman who clearly carries a chip on her shoulder the size of the world. I even failed today with my “kill them with kindness” ploy--which has worked all the time every time up until this point. This one cannot be reached.

Be kind to each other.

I think the next time she returns, I’ll slip her a nickel from my grandmother.