Barrista
I'm a barrista. Actually, I don't know if I'm a barrista. That might be trademarked. But it sounds better than "coffee maker".
I bitch about the work to my friends, co-workers and even my parents, but I secretly love it. I thought I would be sick of the smell of fresh ground coffee, but it gets better every day. I thought the "just above minimum wage" was going to kill me, but it hasn't yet. I thought I'd hate my co-workers and loathe the finicky regulars, but those are my favourite people. The finicky regulars have character. I know a handful by name; an even larger number by drink.
I have to say I fancy the Double Shot Latte with Vanilla man the most. He's trying in his own way to fit in with the latte crowd, but there is no way you're going to get him to drink something that doesn't taste like coffee. When he realized no amount of shots will cure a latte, he asked me how to fix it. I told him to stop trying to get it to taste like coffee and more like warm ice cream. He laughed at the idea and at least once a week he's in getting his Double Shot Latte with Vanilla.
Last week I got personal with him. We're not forbidden from being friendly and we've been given permission from the head cheeses to flirt with whomever we fancy. His name? Wes.
"As in Wesley?"
"Naw, just 'Wes'."
"How long have you lived here?"
"Do I look out of place?"
Turns out he's "one of them thar good ol' boys" from farm country. Tried to check his temperature about me, but I was shut down by my co-worker shouting "Double Shot Vanilla Latte". He always says it wrong.
I bitch about the work to my friends, co-workers and even my parents, but I secretly love it. I thought I would be sick of the smell of fresh ground coffee, but it gets better every day. I thought the "just above minimum wage" was going to kill me, but it hasn't yet. I thought I'd hate my co-workers and loathe the finicky regulars, but those are my favourite people. The finicky regulars have character. I know a handful by name; an even larger number by drink.
I have to say I fancy the Double Shot Latte with Vanilla man the most. He's trying in his own way to fit in with the latte crowd, but there is no way you're going to get him to drink something that doesn't taste like coffee. When he realized no amount of shots will cure a latte, he asked me how to fix it. I told him to stop trying to get it to taste like coffee and more like warm ice cream. He laughed at the idea and at least once a week he's in getting his Double Shot Latte with Vanilla.
Last week I got personal with him. We're not forbidden from being friendly and we've been given permission from the head cheeses to flirt with whomever we fancy. His name? Wes.
"As in Wesley?"
"Naw, just 'Wes'."
"How long have you lived here?"
"Do I look out of place?"
Turns out he's "one of them thar good ol' boys" from farm country. Tried to check his temperature about me, but I was shut down by my co-worker shouting "Double Shot Vanilla Latte". He always says it wrong.
posted by Corinne at
3:10 p.m.
12 Comments:
Anyone want a love interest?
By
Corinne, at 5/26/2005 03:24:00 p.m.
I wanted to tie Jill into this, but I realized that she never talks to the "Yuppie Cowboy" but knows of him. It didn't seem to quite fit that she would only know him by his drink.
I'm still trying to get Jill in somewhere without introducing too many new minor characters, but she needs an outside connection. She can't seem to hold a job, and I can't seem to find an appropriate social outlet for her. Any suggestions?
By
Corinne, at 5/26/2005 03:30:00 p.m.
Hmm. A social outlet for someone who's rather anti-social? Hey, I never said I think of these things in advance... :)
Something tells me Jill might be gay. Perhaps because when I hear her voice in my head, it sounds like Shane from The L Word. Maybe she's still in the closet.
By
Donna, at 5/26/2005 03:46:00 p.m.
I made sure Edith had a social past.
And Jill seems as though she might have a circle of friends... Cycle enthusiasts? A stich'n'bitch group?
I've figured it out. It's a bit of a stretch but I think I know someone she knows.
By
Corinne, at 5/26/2005 03:51:00 p.m.
Yeah baby. Bring on the lovin'!
By
Briana Tomkinson, at 5/26/2005 04:31:00 p.m.
Funny, I thought of Shane from The L Word when I read the Jill character too. She's got her own crowd out there somewhere for sure.
By
Unknown, at 5/26/2005 10:32:00 p.m.
ajs, donna, I have never seen nor heard of The L Word, but I would love to see Jill develop further. Jump in, take the reins!
I don't think I know Jill well enough to expand her character.
By
Corinne, at 5/26/2005 11:19:00 p.m.
Someone commented on this story on Donna's blog (don't ask me why). It's from a guy named Wes, who apparently identifies with 'our' Wes: "The entry 'The Barrista' is interesting in that it features an attractive man named Wes from a farm state who likes espresso drinks and who routinely flirts with the girls who make them.
"It's problematic, though, in that it displays no technical command of espresso lore. For instance, it's spelled 'barista' and a latte actually has a lower proportion of espresso than any other such drink, so a man who wanted to max out the coffee flavor, as Wes purportedly wants to do, would be least likely to drink it."
I responded saying that I think the idea is that Wes is a double-shot Americano man trying to be a latte man. Maybe the barista should offer to surprise him with something stronger? An Americano is what I'd make him, but if he wants fancy he could try a mocha or a macchiato, unless he's not so much with the sweet tooth.
My impression of Wes is that he was a drip coffee guy back in Alberta. He's trying to cultivate a taste for fancy coffees because he believes that's how it's done here.
Oh and barista isn't a trademark.
By
Briana Tomkinson, at 5/27/2005 08:37:00 a.m.
I like that.
And I did find that Barista is not trademarked before I published, but felt like keeping it.
I got a similar impression with the inital post about Wes, but I wanted to show that he's trying to combine his love of stonger coffee with his love of softer things.
By
Corinne, at 5/27/2005 10:51:00 a.m.
I'm working on a bit expanding the link between the barista and Wes. In it, he orders something new ...
By
Briana Tomkinson, at 5/27/2005 12:36:00 p.m.
I was thinking that while I was out, that Wes could be buying his normal coffee elsewhere/other times, but getting the fruity drink only when the barista is around...
By
Corinne, at 5/28/2005 12:41:00 a.m.
Someone should get Wes a Bodum and a coffee grinder for no reason whatsoever. Maybe he could be sneaking capfuls of Kalhua or Irish Whiskey into his latte' from a mickey he carries around in his courier bag. Something to do when nobody is looking.
Also, this would be weird. Maybe Jason's story happened in the same coffee shop?
By
AWGB, at 5/28/2005 04:58:00 p.m.
Post a Comment
<< Home