the look of disapproval

tonight this man scowled at me. a coffee drinker, the brewed coffee drinkers are the worst.

i didn't even charge him for his coffee, and he still scowled at me.

you see, during the day, we have four coffee pots to brew in. so we shuttle two pots back and forth, lagging just enough so there is never a time when coffee is unavailable.

around 4 or 5pm, we clean two of those pots and go to two pots of coffee which we do not shuttle, we just brew and drain, then brew again.

we typically brew two cups of coffee at a time. every half hour.

with two pots, this means, one is dedicated to decaf, the other to regular.

there is always going to be a lapse of about five to ten minutes when we have to empty the pot and start the new pot (including brewing time). and if someone sold two cups of coffee without restarting the whole process, then, things really get interesting.

so i brew four cups regular at a time.

well, this guy, a regular, orders a cup, and i barely have enough. we'd had about a zillion people through and the pot was low. so i don't charge him, and say,

i hope this is acceptable.

and he just looks at me with this disapproving scowl.

sigh.

even if i brewed a gallon of coffee at a time, if you walk in: a. when it's just sold out, or b. when the timers are going bezerk, you're still going to have to wait or not get the coffee in two seconds.

if people have to wait anymore than a minute, they are such babies.

i understand that we are in the coffee business, but it simply is not possible to have it ready instantly for every single person that walks in.

has this happened to that guy before? yeah, i think so.

why? for the same reasons i just said.

i don't plan to run out of coffee or have the timers go off just before he walks in.

and, well, i'm just so sick of these people who don't give us a break. it's not like i'm trying to not have coffee ready.

there is so much else that is more important in life. it really makes me understand that.

i had this one customer tonight who said to me,

i wish i could make your life easier.

and i smiled. i wished i would have told him he just had. because compassion and patience go a long way.

i should go to bed. too bad i drink so much coffee.

(not really, i drink tea. green tea, or chai. they both have caffine though)

sigh.