I'm waiting patiently for my Starbucks soy latte - because I am one bougie, basic you-know-what, apparently - when I notice that one of the baristas behind the counter looks ticked.
Really ticked.
I follow her glare to the end of the bar, where a middle-aged woman is sitting on a barstool, finishing up a pastry. She's staring intently at her iPhone, holding it up at an angle in front of the big, silver, behemoth of a sink in front of her. I instantly recognize the familiar, focused look in her eyes, the way she's tilting her phone just so: She's trying to capture the perfect Instagram photo. And then, satisfied with what she's just snapped, she begins to pocket her phone.
The barista has a thick accent, & at first I'm not sure exactly what she's said - but the anger in her voice is unmistakable. "
None of this!" she says firmly to the customer with the iPhone. "No photos!" The customer looks startled, like maybe the barista is scolding someone else. She looks to either side, but no one is there except me, & I look just as bewildered as she does. Turning back to the stern-faced barista & gesturing to herself despite the cup of tea in her hand, she squeaks, "Me?"
"Yes! You cannot take photos in here!" The barista is really mad now, glaring something fierce. This isn't your standard "Sorry, but..." or "Thanks for understanding..." sort of customer service. This is harsh & unfaltering &, frankly, confusing, because trying to take artsy, amateur smartphone photos has become something of an international pastime. Have you been on Instagram lately? It's positively replete with attempts at capturing creatives images of Starbucks cups.
The budding photographer splutters a little. "I was just taking a photo of the faucet," she explains meekly. "It's just a photo of a drop of water." She pushes her phone forward, & the photo on screen corroborates her story. But for all the anger in this barista's eyes, she might as well have flashed a photo of a thousand slaughtered kittens.
Another barista, the one who's making my drink, mutters toward her coworker: "It's fine, I'm not even in it. It's fine." I wonder for a moment whether the angry barista is defending this one, somehow, if there's some reason she can't be in photographs - if she's a victim of domestic violence, or... I don't know, some other reason she shouldn't be photographed. But the customer's photo is as she explained: just a drop of water from a big, silver sink. And why all the anger? Can't she at least get an explanation or a little bit of kindness?
As the baristas mutter to one another, the woman with the iPhone turns to me. "I guess I shouldn't try to take artsy Instagram photos," she says, shrugging her shoulders & trying to laugh. I laugh a little, too, & shrug back at her in response, "What a Monday," I murmur. We're both still processing this weird & hostile scene.
But even with her coworker's placation, the angry barista is still angry: "You have to delete the picture," she insists. "Why are you taking it? You can't take photos in here. Delete it & leave!"
The customer, who looks exhausted by this point, turns & walks away. When she's out of earshot, the barista mutters, loud enough for me to hear, "No class. No class at all." She catches me staring at her, mouth wide open, but she doesn't seem apologetic or embarrassed - just as angry as she's been all along.
As I stop to grab a napkin on my way out of the store, I catch up with the customer to tell her what I've just heard & to
say that I'd be emailing corporate Starbucks with a complaint. Maybe it's silly of me to inject myself into her scenario, but I want her to
leave feeling like she has an ally, even if it's in a complete
stranger.
She tells me she's going to send an email to
corporate, too, & she seems pretty downtrodden, like maybe the day
has just taken the mickey out of her. But then her face lights up a
little, & she half-smiles at me: "You know, you can't take pictures
in a Starbucks, but you can take a gun into one," she tells me. "How's
that for priorities?"
***
Actually,
Starbucks has a strict no-guns policy
as of last fall, but I appreciate the sentiment. No guns, no
photos, "no class," & never a dull moment, apparently.
At it turns out, this woman wasn't the first Starbucks customer to face
the ire of a barista set on shutting down an amateur photography attempt. A rep
confirmed for Business Insider last year that personal photography is permitted inside Starbucks stores, but the
Internet is still
full of
similar stories &
confusion about
the company's in-store photo policy.
For me, though, the issue wasn't that this woman was being
prohibited from taking photos (although that's absurd). It's that she was being treated so
rudely - as though she'd committed an
actual crime - without being given even the slightest explanation as to what she had done wrong.
The
Golden Rule applies all the time, even - & perhaps especially - in the service industry, going both ways. Drink your coffee & Instagram in peace & just be nice to other people, period. You're on notice, Adams Morgan Starbucks.
_-_The_Girl_With_The_Pearl_Earring_(1665).jpg)
