Earlier this month I made the decision to stop going to Caribou Coffee for my daily $3.75 latte'.
I had been trying to convince myself that I enjoyed this extravagance by telling myself that the people wee so friendly and all that I was paying for the expreience, not the coffee which in fact I could make for myself.
Then I had the experience of being treated rudely by one of the employees at my daily stop.
This is a place that I frequented enough that the employees all knew me by name. I spent in excess of $100/month at this location.
But on the morning of the first Saturday in December I stopped in at my usual time and ordered my usual large skim decaf latte'.
After about 5 minutes, Steph, the coffee jockey that morning sniped at me that my drink hd come up 7 minutes ago and that someone must have taken it. While her tone was rude, I ignored it at that point and told her that I hadn't even been there 7 minutes and that I was okay with the mix-up and could wait.
She said something- I don't remember exactly what- that mad eit sound like it was my fault that someone else took my drink.
After 10 minutes of watching person after person getting their drinks- remember that these people are well aware of who I am- she placed the latte' at the far end of the counter and called out "lg decaf latte'".
I did not get so much a s an apology for the mix-up or even an acknowledgement of my existence.
I told the staff at that point that I believed the whole episode to be very rude and that if I did not return that would be why.
Having been convinced that a small amount of familiarity and politeness is not something one should expect to pay for I decided to create for myself a new morning routine.
Breuggers Bagels- just across the street- has a reasonable cup of coffee that would fit the bill for lee money. I went in to discover a promotion going on currently that offers a travelling mug that would provide free refills through 2007. The cathc was that the mug was being offered for $99.
In less than 1 month I have had that same mug refilled already 37 times. If each of those replaced a $3.75 latte' I have already made my initial payment back.
This means that for a reasonable sacrifice - having to add my own skim milk to my coffee and having to clean my own mug- I am in a position to receive free coffee for the coming year.
Add to this that the folks at Breuggers offer a friendly environment as well. Even if the decide to take me for granted that would be only fair since my main ambition is to maximize my value for the next 370 days.
Think of what I can do with the $1200 I will save in 2007- If Neil is listening a concert would be a good idea- I am willing to travel as needed.
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2 comments:
In trading one extravagance for another, I approve of your choice...that is, if we're blessed with a tour this year!! Up until fairly recently, we extravagantly drove ten miles round-trip for our daily cup of java at our "local" Dunkin Donuts. When the price sky-rocketed to over $4.00 (with a modest tip) for two medium-sized cups with just milk, we began re-evaluating this luxury. When rudeness similar to that you describe began to prevail, we went on strike and bought a BUNN coffee maker that does the job in minutes. We still miss the ceremony of acquiring the coffee. However, we gloat over our savings....and, we, too, shall justify something wonderful with the same, God willing. Hope to see you on the concert trail, where we'll all be sitting in now-affordable, front-row seats! Happy New Year.......oh, and before I forget...
When I log onto your page, it now brings me to October 18th blog, from where I need to go to "home" for your current entries. Not sure if this probem is mine alone; you might want to check! :-)
PS-I've solved the log-on problem by just newly bookmarking your home page. However, someone searching "A Page That Aches" and connecting via the link provided might experience finding themselves on a page with some very old blog! It might be worth looking into.
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