Cops Eject Starbucks Customer Who Wouldn't Use Their Lingo

I used to work at starbucks and I really feel for this woman----starbucks got more and more Stepford Wives with their verbage and stupid questions that antagonize the customer. Would you like it sweetened? Room for cream? What's your name? Oh it's just sick. It wasn't that way at the beginning, they didn't even write directions on the cup; now they are writing like crazy, asking Twenty Questions, and it's one long gag till you finally break away. Every employee in that store should be fired. I hope she files a major lawsuit, they can afford it.

Frankly, one of the Starbucks execs should go in there and promptly fire all the staff. That is *not* the way to behave towards someone who wants to give you their money...

what the hell is a barista?

I recently ordered a plain cheeseburger at the cafeteria where I work. I was asked if I wanted anything on it. I said "no". When I got back to my desk, I found a palin hamburger and bun.

Just go to a corner deli. They have coffee and bagels about 1/3 the price and no attitude.

This Rosenthal needs to shut her fat fucking face.

And fuck Starbucks and it's fucking Baristas. This is America, not Italy or Spain. We call them counter people.

Agree with OSN. I live in Europe. Nobody in their right mind no mater what language they speak would say Barista except for knob-ends like those commenting above.

Any New Yorker knows better than to get your bagels from Starbucks. I mean, c'mon. really? Starbucks for a bagel?

yes but at 4am in the morning, a bagel from Starbucks at Columbus Circle isn't so bad.

i'm laughing at your comment at 3 pm in the afternoon.

although, only a few people would say the ones served at 4am in the afternoon taste a little strange

+1

You just reminded me of a story. Once, I was in a Chinatown coffee shop, a Chinese guy comes in and orders a bunch of coffees. It seemed to me that he was ordering coffees for maybe his boss and/or his coworkers. So among those, he orders a "plain coffee" (in Chinese) with sugar. So what I took him to mean was he wanted a coffee black with sugar. But the counter guy didn't seem to think so, and said to him "you can't have a plain coffee with sugar...that doesn't make any sense." The customer said back to the counter guy, look, that's the way I want it, so just make it that way. The most hilarious part for me was, I was sitting there watching this exchange, and I remember thinking to myself that the customer was probably on the job, took some instructions, and didn't want to get the order wrong and catch hell. So he was being inflexible. The counter guy on the other hand, was being inflexible, just because. So, long story short, they continue going back and forth for another 2 minutes. And I don't know how it got resolved. But I remember watching this and having a good laugh from it.

This lady sounds like a major league asshole, who was looking for a fight. Guess she got what she was looking for.

Once I was in this independent coffee shop in LA, and this jackhole came in and started ordering a coffee using Starbucks lingo. Needless to say, the baristas had no clue what it meant. Instead of just asking for a large or medium or whatever it is he wanted, he started berating them, telling them they should learn the Starbucks lingo.

If she said, "I just want a bagel" in response to the question, why were they so dense that they needed more information than that? Ever since S'bucks first came to town, I have always asked for a "small coffee" and no one, ever, in ANY store, has asked me to qualify what I wanted. I've never asked for a tall, grande, or venti or whatever -- and honestly, have never paid attention to the menu to even know what the sizes are! Whenever I wanted a larger size, I said "medium" or "the next largest" or some other descriptor. They have always given me the correct size without batting an eye. If I had ordered a bagel, and they asked me "butter or cheese?" I would've said, "Did I ask for butter or cheese?" and just have faith that the morons could figure it out.

This headline is totally misleading. She got ejected for creating a disturbance and being a douchnozzle! Good for the manager. However, -2 for the barista who didn't just move the DN along with her lousy (and really, they are) bagel!!

Some minor points. First, baristas at SBUX make more than $8, esp UWS baristas. Second, IF they get benefits (if they average enough hours per quarter, and many do not) benefits come out of that pay. Third, about naming. The first three sizes of coffee that SBUX sold were Short (8 oz.), Tall (12 oz.) and Grande (16 oz.). See how it all makes sense?? The Venti was added later and, as mentioned above, named for its size. And yes, iced are all different...because of the volume added by blended ice...And yes, I wore the green apron for 3 years.

Ms. Rosenthal insists that you don't have to list 'what you don't want' at Burger King but I think you'd still have to say 'hold the pickle, hold the lettuce...' if you want it your way. Does she also refuse to say she would like to order a 'Whopper?' A Big Mac? A Rooty Tooty fresh N fruity???

How often do you think customers order hamburgers at McDonald's, but say to hold the hamburger?

Ha ha. I once ordered a hamburger at McDonald's (42nd @ 5th) by requesting a hamburger with just the bun. You guessed it. I got a plain bun with nothing in it--no hamburger.

That particular McD's kind of wacky anyway. Another time an order taker there tried to cheat me out of my correct change. She claimed I gave her $5 when I gave her $20. Had to call the manager over for that one.

Ewwwww!!!

Cheese on a bagel?

that's disgusting.

stop visiting the fucking place...

THIS IS NOT NEWS, GOTHAMIST! Can't you find ANYTHING worthy to write about? Who cares that some idiot got thrown out of Starbucks because of a bagel? WHO CARES????

I guess the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree.

THIS IS A BLOG, EINSTEIN! They can post whatever they want! Go back to Ohio you tourist hipster artist Muslim Bloomberg!

Yeah, nobody cares about this! Note the lack of comments.

Seems like both parties were being grande douchebags.

Actually I think they were Venti Douchebaggacinos.

Half decaf, skinny caramel douchedbaggiatos.

Extra Xanax.

you know what's even more annoying than all the hipsters and their starbucks lingo? people who incessantly complain about hipsters and starbucks lingo.

tall, grande and venti means small, medium, and large... how is this a difficult concept to grasp??? like your entire week has been ruined because you must say venti instead of large?

i just love when people say they "never" or "refuse" to go to starbucks because they are "forced" to use the proper language. in ten years i have NEVER heard an employee make a customer use the correct word, or even correct a customer for saying large or small.

Hipsters don't go to Starbucks, they prefer smaller places.

This woman was def. just looking for a fight. Plenty of people go into starbucks and ask for small or large coffees and never once did I hear them yell at a customer about the lingo. Even if you go to a resturant and just ask for a hamburger they ask you do you want cheese on that? What so hard to say no thanks just plain. Even ordering a bagel ANYWHERE in the city they ask if you want it plain to make sure. She is a nut job that needs to calm down.

That's completely true. Read the article where she says, "I didn't even want the bagel anymore." If somebody behind a counter really ticked me off for whatever reason, I'd say, "Fine, keep the crap," and walk out without making a big scene.

I'd like to hear from any of her students. Is she the same kind of ridiculous control freak in the classroom? I suspect the answer is yes.

i have been ordering a "small" coffee at various NYC Starbucks for ages, and they never try to strong arm me into using their lingo. plus why couldn't the crazy beatch just say "plain! i want it plain!" sounds like she walked in there looking for a fight. as an aside and somewhat in her defense, I have friends who work at corporate in Seattle, and they told me that NYC is pretty much the only market they can't keep in line with the corporate requirements for politeness and cleanliness. The stores in NYC are always failing their reviews. New Yorkers are just fricking rude and abusive, whether they are in front of the counter or behind it, and you gotta get over it and get on with your life or you will just be one more unhappy city dweller blaming all your problems on others.

whatsa mattah? standin' up for your 'brother'?

btw: i dont think i've EVER mentioned ohio or oregon on here bebore.

*before

youngpro, are you totally joking? It's not clear.

I'm so glad I don't like coffee.

Seems like two idiots trying to prove a point.

"Do you want butter or cheese?" And that's when she snapped.

Hardly a reason for the customer to snap.

but then...

The barista said, 'You're not going to get anything unless you say butter or cheese!'

Just give the bitch her multigrain bagel and move on.

Although the customer started it, when by her own admission "yelled, 'I want my multigrain bagel!" I think they're both at fault but Rosenthal more so for starting this nonsense.

First the Jet Blue Flight attendant, then the McNugget drive thru psycho, and now this. I hope there is surveillance footage from this one. She's lucky I wasn't behind her in line, because I'd have been arrested and she'd have been forced face first in the trash can through that 6 inch opening.

The video will probably look like that Carol Ann Gotbaum kook who lost her shit in the Phoenix airport.

Most of you may be to young to remember this movie but I believe incident is based on this scene with Jack Nicholson in Five Easy Pieces

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElNpwX_8YpQ

If only we could go back to simpler times when coffee in NYC was either "regular" or "black".

You can, at any diner or convenience store.

um, typo . . . that was supposed to say "I may NOT be a genius but I learned my lesson and hand the coffee."

Speaking of corporate jargon, what's up with all the stores that now have their employees say "following guest"??? Pretentious, wrong, stupid. "Next customer" works just fine.

Yeah, but people think "the customer is always right." The store is trying to redefine you as a "guest" because then you'll remember your Aunt Martha who always made you put a coaster under your drink and you won't be so uppity.

+1

Sooooo glad I don't work in restaurants anymore. I saw this all the time. Customer 1 asks for a coffee and I ask "would you like cream or sugar?" Then I get screamed at "NO, I JUST SAID COFFEE- GIVE ME THE DAMN COFFEE!" Ok, fine, here you go Mr. Psyco. Customer 2 comes in and asks for a coffee. I may be a genius but I learned my lesson and hand the coffee. Then I get screamed at "WHAT, NO CREAM OR SUGAR? YOU DIDN'T OFFER ME CREAM OR SUGAR!!! IS THIS BECAUSE I AM BLACK? A WOMAN? BECAUSE I AM A BLACK WOMAN!!!" You just can't win with mean people. Why would an "educated" woman get so upset because she was offered butter - geez.

haha ...I'm guilty. I just had lunch at my regular coffee shop. I ordered a caesar salad. The waitress, a regular, asked me if I wanted a caesar with chicken. And I, with a slight tone of annoyance, just said curtly "no, just caesar."

I hope you realize you probably ingested several of her boogers with your Ceasar.

It's also annoying how when you order a coffee, they automatically think you want milk in it, unless you affirmatively say "no milk."

She deserved to be arrested, not just thrown out. She refused to answer a simple question and probably held up everybody behind her. The relevant charge should be disturbing the peace and maybe even trespassing. Since she wasn't paying for a purchase, she wasn't a customer and therefore they have every right to eject her.

When in Starbucks I always order a Jeroboam of plain black coffee. When the baristas feign ignorance of what I'm talking about, I scream "6.34 Grandes you G#dd*$n Ignoristas!!"

I drink way too much coffee.

I used to work at Starbucks and have seen this happen before. Most of the time when people just naturally say "small coffee" or "medium latte" it's not a big deal. I would just get their drink and be on with my day. It's when some smug douchebag would make a point to keep reiterating that it's a small, or even correct you when you call the drink out as small, that an employee gets pissed.

Most people don't get hassled at Starbucks because most people don't act like annoying little children. This woman is clearly not among most people, and was treated as such.

I don't think I've ever had a problem at Starbucks saying "large coffee" and getting what I wanted. They know what you mean.

But the conglom-o-jargon is annoying and entirely unnecessary. It's a lame attempt at making cookie-cutter corporate coffee sound high toned.

It's seems a small thing but small things can pile up into something worth fighting over. It's a shame that it took a crazy lady to confront this kind of Orwellian-corporate-speak, but there is something actually fucked up about Starbucks trying to force people to pretend that small and medium aren't small and medium. Perhaps if more sane people bitched about it...

way to water down the Orwellian tag.

here's a thought: don't shop there if you don't like it. there are plenty of coffee purveyors around the city to get your fix or *gasp* make your own!

You're concerned with my use of "Orwellian", but not with intentional and manipulative misuse of "tall" and "grande"? So you do care about proper use of language, yes? Shouldn't you be on my side? We don't need to patronize or ignore Starbucks in order to comment on this. So, please correct my understanding of Orwellian. I thought it referred to the the attempt to change and control people's minds and attitudes by forcing them to use unnatural language. Though I recognize that we're talking mere coffee here, Starbucks is a significant influencer of our culture, so Orwellian still seems apt to me.

the term "Orwellian" signifies a draconian control of choice and a veritable destruction of free society. it's about the State's authority over personal freedom so no, such a term has no place here.

what we are really talking about is Starbucks branding -- a mere attempt at differentiating their products/services from the herd. ergo, it's not a hamburger its a "big mac" or "whopper". what kind of ass is going to walk into an establishment and make a scene about their branding?

honestly this woman sounds like a total bitch who needs to learn how to treat people with a little respect.

Picking on retail workers is reserved for the lowest of the low. As if working at Starbucks isn't terrible enough, you have to make some $8 an hour barista suffer your 'grammar rage'? Plus what NY'er would ever buy a bagel from Starbucks?

8something an hour + benefits. Not a bad deal, considering the required skills set is making coffee.

Wait, so they ask you at Starbucks if you want "butter or cheese"? Do they mean cream cheese, or cheddar cheese or what? That's what makes the least sense to me. I love a bagel with melted cheddar on it.

This whole story is ridiculous. I'm sure the woman is just an obnoxious bitch. I have visited a lot of Starbucks and ordered a bagel and when they ask "butter or cheese" I just say "nothing, just plain, please" and they give it to me plain. I just don't believe this story. Also, the only reason we have these ridiculous grande and venti sizes is because fat Americans wouldn't be satisfied with the two normal sizes of SHORT and TALL.

I order shorts all the time.

This is how it should have went:

Rosenthal: I'd like an omelet, plain, and a chicken salad sandwich on a multi-grain bagel, no mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce. And a cup of coffee.

Starbuck Barista: A #2, chicken salad sand. on a multi-grain bagel. Hold the butter, the lettuce, the mayonnaise, and a cup of coffee. Anything else?

Rosenthal: Yeah, now all you have to do is hold the chicken, bring me the multi-grain bagel, give me a check for the chicken salad sandwich, and you haven't broken any rules.



Starbucks Barista: You want me to hold the chicken, huh?

Rosenthal: I want you to hold it between your knees.

hahahahaha!

Well, it's not like there's anything else going in the world. You make to make a stand somewhere.

On this episode of "When keepin' it real goes wrong"...

I despise Starbucks lingo too and never use it. But I've never had my money turned down when I ordered a "medium latte".

I guess the Starbucks downtown aren't as snotty about their lingo as the ones uptown.

This reminds me of a scene from the film role models.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkpDEn7mGVY

Danny: Can I get a large black coffee?

Barista: A what?

Danny: Large black coffee.

Barista: Do you mean a venti?

Danny: No, I mean a large.

Barista: Venti is large.

Danny: No, venti is twenty. Large is large. In fact, tall is large and grande is Spanish for large. Venti is the only one that doesn't mean large. It's also the only one that's Italian. Congratulations, you're stupid in three languages.

Barista: A venti is a large coffee.

Danny: Really? Says who? Fellini? Do you accept lira or is it all euros now?

Yeah, but the pay-off is when he figures out Venti is "20" for the number of ounces, & that hassling people at their jobs because he's a smug little jerk makes him an asshole-- so he stops being an asshole.

"Stopping being an asshole" is the most important part.

what a bitch.

To the people who think this woman was taking a principled stand against a corporation:

How is it a strike against the corporation to voluntarily give the corporation your money and then abuse the working person who has absolutely no control over corporate policy?

If you want to fight the suburbanization of NY, which is a noble idea, patronize independent merchants and don't give the corporations your money.

This woman sounds like just another arrogant asshole.

The barista said, 'You're not going to get anything unless you say butter or cheese!'

She should have replied, "Okay! You have a butter face!"

Go suck a bag of dicks would've been my response.

Would you put the used ones in a bowl like edamame shells?

I love when people are in on that reference...

..like one at a time or ?

I call bullshit on this and anyone who says Starbucks employees force you to use their vernacular. In the hundreds of times I've ordered coffee, I've always said "Large black coffee." I've never been questioned or conscendingly corrected.

If it happens, it must be an individual employee thing.

yeah, i'm with you. i'm usually shocked by how friendly starbucks employees are, even in NYC. then again, this is on the UWS, so whoever this employee is probably deals with tightly wound bitchfaces all day, every day.

linda's claim would have more weight if this had to do with the stupid size scheme or the pretalian. this is basically just an inability to communicate plainly with another human being.

i'd like to order my coffee and slow down while stating and accentuating its size: "meeeee-diiiii-uuuuum, coffee please. got it? meeeee-diiii-uuuuum. thanks. medium."

Agreed- the few dozen times I've ever been to a SB I say Medium Coffee, or Medium Iced Black.

They don't give me no guff :)

someone should mention to ms. rosenthal that napkins at starbucks say, "less napkins. more planet."

come to think of it, y'know, maybe that's what sparked it all -- she just couldn't take it anymore after looking at those napkins.

This is less about grammar and more about math—Starbucks renamed small, medium, and large by using Tall, Grande, and Venti—Lame.

The whole cup naming system is logically incorrect.

1. Tall is just lame (12oz)

2. Grande in Italian means large (16oz) so being the middle size is just plain stupid

3. Venti means 20 and while the cup is 20oz

I think their April Fools' joke was their way of making fun of themselves, two extremes: Micra: 2oz and Plenta: 128oz.

Not to really defend Starbucks, but I worked there in college and we learned why their sizes are named so.

When they started, all they had was what is now known as short. They quickly made "tall", which was large at one point. Short and tall!

Then fat ass Americans wanted more more MORE, so they created "Grande". 16 ounces of milk and sugar wasn't enough even then, so they went one further and made a 20oz "Venti" because it sounded good and "venti" means "twenty". They could have called it "super grande" or something, but that just doesn't flow.

But yeah... if someone orders a medium, they get grande. Nobody at Starbucks really cares. And the coffee in the stores from NYC are even worse than everywhere else because those kids REALLY don't care.

Regardless, mathematically, it's incorrect—that was my jab at the grammar nazi comment and also my sarcasm, that again was not picked up (stupid internets).

Side note: All the above in "iced" size changes all of that.

The irony here is that she's the one being "linguistically stupid." Years ago, if you ordered a chocolate milk shake in parts of Massachusetts, you got milk with chocolate syrup. If you wanted milk with chocolate ice cream, you had to order a frappe, and at Friendly's you had to order a Fribble, no matter how stupid you thought it sounded. It's a local linguistic variation like ordering a sub, hero, grinder, hoagie, etc. in different parts of the country. Starbucks maintains a consistent linguistic practice in its product names, their customers learn it and use it when they're there. So not only is she a shrew, she's an incompetent English teacher.

Actually, Friendly's has had chocolate milkshakes as well as Fribbles. Fribbles are made with special ice milk stuff, not ice cream.

And don't forget the "short"--the unadvertised small size. Because if you ask for small, you get tall, apparently because it rhymes with small.

*I meant Rosenthal - I better get her name right or she'll come looking for me!

She sounds ridiculous. And her argument that she resents being forced to use "starbuck's vernacular" doesn't stand up at all. According to the story presented here, she was asked a simple question - do you want cheese or butter. If she didn't want either, the correct and easy response would simply be to say no, rather than refuse to answer the question and throw a hissy fit.

Just like if you order a coffee, and they ask you "would you like any sugar or milk", you can just say "No" - no-one is forcing you to say anything else. To simply refuse to answer the question is just weird.

And also, her comparison to Burger King is ridiculous for two reasons:

Firstly, since when is BK the arbiter of correct social interractions? If you go to a nice restaurant and ask for steak, and the waiter asks if you want it medium, rare or well done, does she protest "well they never ask me that at Burger King, so I refuse to answer!"

Secondly, when you order a burger at BK, they'll often ask "do you want fries with that" , or would you like to super-size it, or whatever else. So there IS a whole multitude of questions they ask at BK after you order a simple burger.

Also, by her own admission, she "yelled", which seems to have escalated the whole situation.

Someone on gawker commented that this Rosenburg lady must be the passenger who caused Slater to lose his shit on Jet Blue flight last week. HA!

How is that even Starbucks vernacular? If she went to H&H they would ask her if she wanted it toasted, buttered, cream cheese etc just the same. Also her analogy is stupid, if you ordered a burger at Burger King and you wanted it plain you would also need to specify no tomato, lettuce pickles etc.

Better yet, she would have gotten the same treatment if she had gone to a BK and just stayed silent when they ask, "Would you like fries with that?"

Just so you know, professor, just like Kazubes says, when you want something out of the ordinary, you DO have to specify the changes. Bagels come with butter or cheese in Starbucks unless you specify otherwise, just like you're not going to get a plain bread and beef Whopper unless you tell them, "Hold the pickle, hold the lettuce..." Now you get to have your name known for all time on the Internet as an entitled, self-important bitch. You thought you were humiliated before? Going to the paper and getting talked about in comments sections like this will be 10,000x worse.

H&H don't toast, bro. DIY bagels over there.

However, they do have very creative bookkeeping @ H&H

If she wants preference for her whims then she should go to jail and join the pedophile rabbi. Why didn't anyone taser her?

"she should go to jail and join the pedophile rabbi."

"Why didn't anyone taser her?"

---are you serious right now?

She should have inflated an emergency chute and slid out of .... oh wait.

seems like more of these types of blow ups will get over-reported now that JetBlue Steve is basking in the after-glow of his own meltdown.

I'd agree with Rosenthal that the language used in Starbucks is idiotic. It's a coffee shop where you can't order a 'large coffee'. The staff asks for a clarification if you do. It's unnecessary and annoying.

But that's why I don't go there. Freedom of choice, capitalistic competition, and all that good stuff. It's easy to avoid what frustrates you if it's nicely branded.

That's why I'd say that Lynne is a dolt who just wanted to make a scene. She probably could have said 'Nothing' and would have gotten her bagel. It's just pathetic to see a grown woman throw a hissy fit over something so simple.

And - does Starbucks have good bagels? Not that I'll ever try them but I wouldn't think they're that good.