He has a name, but for these purposes, we are going to call him "Tony."
He's not really a bad homeless person, but he's not really a good one either. The baristas are mostly kind, but he has taken to pushing their generosity to ever-farther limits.
At first, it was the occasional free refill. Now, it is a free cup of coffee every day. And when he wants a refill, he brings the cup back in and thrusts it in the face of whichever barista happens to be behind the bar and just stands there. Not cool dude, not cool.
There's also what I call the "proximity" factor. He mistakes proximity for interest. Just because we all happen to be in the same space, we don't actually share a desire to communicate all the time. They have to work, I want to surf the Internet (or write). Or read.
And when "Tony" talks, it is …. Kind of insane.
Yesterday, he brought in an empty box that used to contain DVD glasses. He wanted to sell the box to the baristas. An empty box? They were trying to explain his logic to me - and none of us ever got it. We think he may have been telling them to go try and return it to a store or something.
So today I come in and he's parked out on the patio, smoking and "keeping watch" over the cars in the parking lot. I put my stuff down on the laptop bar and order my drink.
As I return to my computer, I notice that "Tony" has secured a newspaper. But not any newspaper. One in a bag.
Now, because I work there, I know where he got this one - right off someone's front lawn. See, newspaper arrive in little plastic bags when it is raining during the AM and carriers can't throw just the paper during their delivery. He swiped this one. We later discover that it is a Wall Street Journal, so it definitely came off somebody's lawn. Note the CVS bag with his belongings tied up next to it in the photo above!
So I go over to the baristas and say "We've got to talk about Tony." And I tell them that he swiped the paper.
They laugh - and tell me that I need a whole section of my blog devoted to "We've got to talk about Tony."
Does your Starbucks have a regular homeless person (or two?)
Love this post... We've got to talk about Tony. Thanks for the good laugh! I have Starbucks envy. Since moving to SW Florida, I have been maybe twice. This was a daily part of my previous existence, but the only Starbucks near me is on Captiva Island and it just isn't the same. I think I might check it out again to see if there are any Tony's hanging about...As unlikely as that would be, it would be worth the investigation. At least your 'Tony' keeps it interesting... ;-)
ReplyDeleteI am a Target Starbucks team member/barista and we have a homeless woman that comes in and orders a tall Pike's every day. She is homeless, but she has a debit card because her nephew or grandson (not sure who exactly) comes by once a month and drops off a few hundred dollars to her. She has peed in the chairs three times in the last month and a half and the store manager doesn't seem to want to officially ban her from the store (although they kicked her out the second time she peed). He jacket is covered in pee stains and stinks to the high heavens. I have many guests/customers that complain about her and her stench but we aren't allowed to kick her out.
ReplyDeleteThere is also a man that comes in, but he doesn't smell as bad, and another man in a wheel chair that smells like a pot-a-potty. The worst smelling day I've had at work was when these three homeless people occupied the three corners of our eating/sitting area. I literally could not breathe. It was TERRIBLE!