We're out of that - a tale of denial at Starbucks

Can I get a grande espresso chocolate truffle?
We're out of that.

Can I get a grande white mocha?
We're out of that.

Can I get a cinnamon dolce latte?
We're out of that.

Can I get an old-fashioned donut?
We're out of those.

Can I get a chocolate cupcake?
We're out of those.

What do you have?
Pretty much just coffee and some milk.

So, coffee and milk? Anything else is out of the question? Pretty much.

At least she was honest about it - although I didn't get a discount or free pastry. WHICH I WOULD HAVE TAKEN FOR MY INCONVENIENCE, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!

This is two hours before closing at one of the busiest Starbucks in the county. There had to have been 20 people on the patio and another half-dozen (counting us) going back and forth indoors. Yet, all they could make was drip coffee, cappuccino and what I finally got, an iced mocha. My friend got an iced caramel macchiato, which the barista laced with enough caramel to coat an apple because she felt bad at going "We're out of that" five times.

Seriously Starbucks. Supply chain management. Look into it. How is this going to play on Monday morning when the hordes hit?

PS: I tried one of those McDonalds McCafe coffees last week. Blech. Tastes like they threw some chocolate syrup into some coffee and mixed it around on some ice cubes and sprinkled it with sugar. It tastes awful. AW-FUL! If you're truly desperate, the Burger King iced mocha isn't bad. Although Micky D's does have that free WiFi now.

SIDEBAR: When I worked at Wal-Mart - a terrible, horrible, no-good experience I hope never to have to repeat - we ran out of things with predictable regularity. Namely, BAGS and receipt tape.

You would absolutely NOT believe the speed with which you can go through those plastic shopping bags at a Super Wal-mart. And they come in on trucks with the rest of the merchandise - only some idiot assistant manager has to remember to "order" the bags. If they don't remember to place the order, we had to go begging to other stores for bags or worse, go to Sam's to BUY bags.

At least you could *get* bags if you needed them.

Receipt tape was worse. We went through receipt tape like there was no tomorrow - and they were stingy with it. Once, the managers forgot to order receipt tape and everyone was down to one roll and told "don't waste it." Um. OK.

After that, the management started accusing the cashiers of changing the tape too early, or printing out too many draft receipts for customers. So they locked up all the receipt paper and made us request it from a customer service manager. I worked at the service desk - and we had a few drawers and cubby holes - so we started stashing receipt tape wherever we could.

Whenever we were cleaning, we'd always find rolls of tape someone had stashed. It was embarassing - being in the middle of a huge line and ZIPPPPP - out of receipt tape and you're screaming for someone to bring you some receipt tape and no one is coming. If Wal-mart were properly managed, it would truly be a force to be reckoned with. Until then, we really don't have anything to worry about.