Freshman

My friend Robin drove home with me from Indiana and hung out with us for a week.  It wasn't the easiest week for someone to visit what with school starting, but she was a good egg about things and pretty much went with the flow as we introduced her to various activities and places.  One of those places was Starbucks.

The only time Robin had been in a Starbucks was with her daughter who ordered a drink for her.  Since that time she had never gone into one.  One day while we started out to grocery show I veered into a shopping area that had a walk-in clinic so that I could be examined and medicated for what I diagnosed as a sinus infection.  I sent Robin and the girls two doors down to Starbucks to wait for me.  The clinic was not busy and I was out, prescription in hand, in twenty minutes.  The three of them were sitting outside happily sipping frothy cold drinks so I ordered a green tea frappuccino and we headed off to the grocery store.  Robin made a comment about how disgusting my green drink looked and refused to try it.  She was quite happy with the drink Darcy had recommended, a mocha cookie crumble frappuccino.  Not even at this point did I understand that Robin was a Starbucks newbie.

It wasn't until she ventured off on her own to a Starbucks kiosk at the mall that I became aware of this status.  We were sitting upstairs at our mall in comfortable seats talking and watching the ice skaters below us while my girls shopped.  Robin was bored and sleepy and decided that what she needed was something from the kiosk below us.  She pestered me to get something, but I wasn't really thirsty or hungry.  I finally gave in to her whining because I knew she really needed something to pep her up so I told her to get me a peppermint mocha frappucchino.  I did not specify a size, remembering that her last drink had been a tall.  I just assumed she was one of those "tall" Starbucks drinkers, which was all I really did not wanted.  Off she went to the elevators.

From my position above her, I watched her as she came around the elevator downstairs to the Starbucks kiosk.  She disappeared from my view for quite some time and then I saw her laughingly talking to a ponytailed Asian woman who had a cell phone to her ear.  Little did I know what was really going on:

Having never ordered before at Starbucks, Robin got into line and studied the limited menu posted.  She did not see a peppermint mocha frappucchino listed and she spent some time wondering what to get me from the menu.  When it was her turn to order she inquired about my request and the cashier told her of course they could whip her up a peppermint mocha frappucchino.  Robin ordered two, asking for "the size after small".  She then paid and moved down the line following the ponytailed Asian woman in front of her.  She stood and watched the barista as she made the orders.  The woman in front of her moved away from the bar and walked to the skating rink, talking loudly on her cell phone.  Someone else took a finished drink and Robin watched as the barista finished up a green drink much like the one I had ordered last time.  She thought, "well, I suppose the mint is green" and, remembering I didn't like whipped topping, she told the barista no whip on one.  The barista gave her an odd look, put on the whipped cream, and set the drink down on the bar in front of Robin.  Thinking that one was hers, Robin unwrapped a straw, stuck it in the green drink, and sipped from it.  Immediately, the Asian woman turned from the skating rink and asked, "Is that your drink? Did you order a green tea?"  Robin looked down at the drink, turned to the barista who was finishing up two other drinks, one with whip and one without, and shook her head.  She smiled and stuck out the green drink she had sampled.  "I guess this is yours, sorry, I didn't know.  I drank out of it."

The Asian woman and the barista did not find it amusing.  I thought she should have said something witty like, "Oh, no, sorry this is yours.  It's quite tasty." or "No worries, I took the first sip and haven't died yet." but Robin just set the drink down on the bar, picked up our two venti frappuccinos, and told them both to have a nice day and walked back to the elevator.

Hearing the story, I laughed so hard that had I been drinking the frappucchino it would have come out of my nose.  That is when I realized she was a Starbucks newbie, who had also been taken advantage of by the cashier who sold her a more expensive venti when clearly she wanted a grande.  That is twice she has been blindsided at this mall.

The first time she came to this mall with her family on the way out of town.  She got sucked into "sampling" some tea from Tevana.  She found it delicious and agreed to order a "small" amount.  Then she got talked into a tin to store the loose tea.  Total for the tea?  $43.

We sampled the tea again just so we could send the above picture to her husband who has never gotten over the $43 tea purchase.  She didn't buy any tea this time.  She won't be sucker punched in Starbucks anymore either.