All I ever needed to learn about life, I learned from working at Starbucks (Part 2)

“It is the characteristic of the magnanimous man to ask no favor but to be ready to do kindness to others.”
-Aristotle

Last night while working at the SBUX, a woman came in. This woman comes in often enough that I knew her drink off the top of my head (mostly because she yelled at me over Christmas because we ran out of the way cute holiday gift card holding mittens), but she wasn't getting a drink last night. She came in for teacher appreciation gift cards.

Well, we looked for the design that she wanted, and we didn't have it. Then there was an incident about the SBUX card benefits program (free upgrades on some beverages with a registered SBUX card! Yipee! Blah), and how she hadn't gotten any of her benefits. "Not a penny", she said with a huff.

She proceeded to badger my bud HT and me about how idiotic we all were because have to press a button for the machine to register the benefits. It's the same principle as a coupon. It's a privilege, not a right. You must actually POSSESS the coupon to get the discount. We don't know that you've registered your starbucks card. Just take a moment and let us know. It's a new promotion, sometimes we forget. We're human.

Anyway, my point is that she has a great reputation for being rude, and that's probably why no one has gone out of their way to give her any special treatments. She treats everyone at the store like we're her underlings and personal servants.

I have learned at Starbucks several things about life. But, one of the most important lessons (while I always knew this deep down, I understand it deeper now) has been ... it's best said in the words of Plato:
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle."

And in the words of Seneca
"Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness."

And in the words of my dear friend Pepper,
"Give a man your shirt, and then walk a milk with him."

And, from Mother Theresa,
“Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile.”