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So Sad

Please note: If what you do for a living doesn’t touch customer service in any way, this might not seem all that funny to you. For me, it’s hilarious.

My morning tea and treat comes from a Starbucks that’s a block and a half from FlickrHQ. The baristas are quite a lovable bunch and used to my protestations that a tea bag should be put in the cup first and not after the hot water (this is a sure fire way to separate tea and coffee drinkers).

I’m a creature of habit and one thing that I love about Starbucks and I’ve had the opportunity to visit many far and wide, is that my desire for a “venti awake, one tea bag and a slice of the lemon pound cake” has a very good chance of being met.

Upon returning from Mexico City, there was nary a slice of lemon pound cake to be found. Turns out, I must have been the only person to have been eating it and my absence of two weeks resulted in it being taken off the menu. Boo!

All of this was imparted by the morning shift manager in a very pleasant manner who assured me that I should let them know if I missed it and they would see what they could do. Well, I lasted about a month before realizing that the Cran-apple muffin or the Blueberry Bar or the Banana Bread weren’t doing it for me as they were neither lemony nor loafy.

Remembering the invitation for feedback, I mentioned to the gentleman taking my order that I very much missed the lemon pound cake. I had hoped that he might relay my message to those who order such things. Nope. Without missing a beat, he responded with the following:

“That’s so sad.”

I was momentarily stunned and then burst out laughing. That’s so sad! What a most excellent response. I live in hope that one day, I might respond in a similar manner to someone somewhere. It’s unlikely that they too will respond with laughter, but I can live in hope.

19 June 2008 Words

I love, love, love this story, Heather. What a vivid picture i have of it and him.

Also, if I should run into any pound cakes here in NYC, I will surely pick them up and send them overnighted directly to you.

Posted by mihow on 20 June 2008 @ 4am

The lemon loaf has been missing in NYC as well! They started adding the calorie counts to the signs for each treats in the last few months and I was stunned when the beloved lemon was top of the heap at 500 calories! Then the loaf, once a fixture, started disappearing city-wide.

My theory was that the calorie thing could have been such a deterrent that the Starbucks bakers have gone back to the ovens for a reformulation.

Love that lemon loaf!!

Great story.

Posted by Jennifer on 20 June 2008 @ 5am

500 calories? How can anything that’s not steak or chocolate be over 500 calories? Wow.

Posted by Heather on 20 June 2008 @ 7am

That’s incredibly funny. I’ve noticed the new “friendly” initiatives going down at the local Sbux. They are really trying to engender a “local” feeling. (problem is they know everybody’s name except mine. How are you feeling today? Looks like the twitterverse had you in a bad mood yesterday.

Posted by Kevin-John on 21 June 2008 @ 6am

Might I suggest Peet’s Coffee and Tea! I am a coffee drinker and once you go Peet’s you never go back. They have the most wonderful selection of Tea I have ever seen and I am sure that you can find one that suits your fancy. Since they are local here in the Bay Area all of the yummy foods are also local and fresh… I even think they have a lemon cake. Enjoy and let me know the outcome.

Posted by Mike on 21 June 2008 @ 10am

That phrase totally belongs on a tee shirt.xox

Posted by myla on 21 June 2008 @ 11am

I saw the lemon loaf pound cake here in Chicago just the other day. Maybe the high calorie count comes from the sugary icing on the top? It seems to me there was a time when it came un-glazed, just plain cake. I get the “marble loaf” pound cake as an afternoon snack sometimes, but it’s not always available. I always figured it was just variations in what people are buying and what’s available – things always seem to come back eventually.

Posted by Dan on 22 June 2008 @ 8am

OH NO. I just shouted out loud after reading this about the missing lemon pound cake. I don’t like coffee or tea, so I go to Starbucks just for the lemon pound cake — matter of fact, that was what I had gone there for when I first spotted the now infamous “Big Pink Cookie”. First the cookie disappeared. Now this.

I might cry. That’s so sad.

(I totally agree with Myla. That belongs on a t-shirt.)

Posted by Christine on 25 June 2008 @ 4pm

Who the hell doesn’t put the tea bag in before the water? :)

Posted by Mark on 27 June 2008 @ 12am

Hee hee hee!! I have been in Customer-slash-Technical Support for my entire working life, but mostly the last 15 years. Although funny, because he was not rude, how far removed from the idea of service this guy is!

Heh, I can just see him handing you your change, blinking his eyes and tilting his post-adolescent head in sympathy while saying it too!!

Tea bag first, then hot (preferably boiling) water! Tea, steeping, y’know, it’s chemistry!!

Posted by Linda on 10 July 2008 @ 12pm

Weekend Almost Cerberus, Buena Vista

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