I love Starbucks pumpkin scones. Since they are seasonal and I haven’t had enough of them yet this year, I talked my wife into picking up Starbucks on the way to our walk this afternoon… it doesn’t take much convincing:)
We walked into the store and lined up behind just a couple people. Then the person behind us came in without a mask. A server said to him, “Excuse me sir, we have a mask policy in the store.”
He responded, “I have a breathing condition, I can’t wear masks.”
I’ll be honest, I rolled my eyes at this. Then another customer spoke up and called him an ‘@$$hole’. I thought that was uncalled for. It’s one thing to be upset, still another to just attack the person.
When my wife was ordering, I saw an employee giving the mask-less customer a $4 gift card, and apologizing to him, saying that he shouldn’t have to hear that in the store. A very thoughtful gesture, and the customer responded that it was ok, and that he doesn’t let comments like that bother him.
Then this unmasked customer’s masked wife or girlfriend joined him in line and later while we were waiting for our drinks, I noticed two things that the unmasked customer did that I thought were quite inconsiderate. First, he waited inside, while his masked partner went outside to wait. Second, he leaned around the plexiglass separating the employees from the customers and made a couple different requests (for a glass of water and something else I didn’t hear).
I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he is one of the rare people that can’t actually wear a mask for less than 7 minutes to order a coffee. Sure, he can have that. But what about wearing a visor? What about respecting the protective plexiglass that was put there to separate employees from customers? What about having your partner line up for the drink and staying out of the store? Or what about having her wait inside while you wait outside after the order?
I didn’t say anything to him. Maybe I should have, but he’d already had a rude interaction with another customer and it’s not in my nature to escalate conflict. But I think the mask-less customer could have been more considerate towards everyone in the store. And I think it’s just a matter of courtesy that the rude customer didn’t need to be such an @$$ himself.
I commend the Starbucks employee for doing something good… something considerate. I just wish others could do the same.
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