customer service bites

so i've been putting in major hours at the well (school coffee shop). during the school year i only work 2 shifts, so i've gotten a different perspective from being there every day. what perspective is that, you might wonder? basically, people are dumb.

okay, that's a bit harsh. let me explain further...
1) it surprises me in such a starbucks-saturated culture, that people don't know what a latte or a cappucino is. on one hand, their ignorance is comforting and shows me that we have not been fully brainwashed by coffee chains. on the other hand, i'm pretty tired of explaining what a cappucino is 80 times a day, or hearing people try to make a dumb joke about it.
2) people are passive aggressive. well some people are. other people will just make a complaint outright to me - like, "why is this so expensive?" and i will explain that our prices are such and such because our dealer makes them this certain way, or it's organic, or blablabla... however, if you choose to say to me, "at starbucks this is only $5." we cannot really have a discussion about this. i see that you are annoyed that you are paying more, however you do not leave me room to respond. so i will look at you blankly and then turn to the next person in line to take their order. and later, i will make fun of you. and your large steamed milk with caramel, with extra whip and extra caramel. seriously - i hope you enjoy adult-onset diabetes.
it makes me wonder though, about how we communicate. we've forgotten how to do so directly, and try to manipulate situations or shove our own agenda onto other people by cloaking what we really want with different words. how exhausting. and frustrating. i'm no angel in this type of situation, either. i guess i've been unlearning how to do this, and trying to be clear and honest with friends with my words and feelings. not to mention with the odd overworked barrista, or food service employee. be nice to those people - they have access to your food & beverages.

we fear change

once in high school, when my friend jamie was asking for some quarters so he could use the soda machine or something. i dramatically responded, "change? we fear change!" which cracked him up. and he still mooched the buck off me. later, i went to senior prom with him. because we were friends and he laughed at my jokes.

seriously, a sign should be hung around my neck that says "does not deal well with change." whenever something does i deal by going to sleep for a long time. it's just a necessarry part of the process for me. i get cranky when i don't. i end up looking something like a little kid when he's so tired, he can't go to sleep, so just bawls a lot and then suddenly passes out while still crying and hyperventilating. i watched this baby do that a few weeks ago when i was babysitting - it's quite a fascinating phenomenon. how can one fall asleep while screaming at the top of one's lungs at the same time?

so i become narcoleptic ("i've always wanted to try soup but was afraid of drowning.") and i forget things. like going grocery shopping. or writing on the blog. although i know only like 5 people read this thing. sometimes i check the blog out, expecting to see something new, as if someone else would write on it, or i'd have written something and had forgotten about i had. why yes, i am slightly insane.

though i believe as i invite more chaos into my life, i will also invite more fullness more "real life" into my life. and if sometimes that involves me feeling like a kid freaking out, well, okay then. better than not feeling anything at all i think. at least i'll have more interesting things to write about.