To think fussy people ordering coffee should always be in a separate queue

[HarveysPJs]

Drives me mad. I just want to buy a sandwich, and in front of me is someone ordering 4 coffees with very exacting requirements.

Even though I knew I'd have to pay for my shopping, I won't start fumbling in my bag for my purse until the cashier tells me the total. And my purse is right at the bottom of my huge handbag. And I've got 10 money-off coupons you'll need to scan

You forgot a step...it's even though I know I have to pay for my shopping i will act surprised and shocked when asked for the money then start fumbling for a purse etc

Ha ha. Can we have a separate queue at train stations for people who have a million questions about their ticket rather than just asking for what they want? And cashpoints to come in pairs - one for the people who know how to use them.....

@MuserOwl

My Dad in starbucks ten years ago

"I want a cup of coffee and no questions "

Do we have the same father?

YABU if you think that your needs to be served quickly with what you're buying are any more important than the 'annoying' person in front of you.

If a coffee shop has something on the menu, or options available, of course people should - and will - order it.

It's like when you're in a supermarket with one till open and have a basket, and there's someone with a huge trolley in front of you. The impatient part of you might sigh internally, but you have to grin and bear it because they're using the shop as it was intended just as you are.

People can make their own sandwich and coffee so you could all save time and money.

Customer throughput is very slow in these places because each cup is being freshly made rather than dispensed from a machine that is already making it. I suppose it’s the price you pay.

No one especially enjoys queuing but it's a fair system. Maybe you should try cultivating patience. What's the big hurry? What makes your time so much more important than everyone else's? Why not take the opportunity to contemplate how fucking great life still is that we can get fancy coffees and sandwiches made for us at the drop of a hat.

@MrsKJones

I don't like coffee. I like hot milk with a shot of caramel/hazelnut or salted caramel - what would i order? I used to get them from a cart at the train station and they were called Milk steamers - very tasty

Well that’s essentially what a baby chino is steeped milk,

So I guess you could try ordering a lager baby chino with a shot of syrup, wether that would be possiable.

Or just that a steamed milk with a shot of syrup

As an aside has anyone else noticed the assumption that if there is a black and a white coffee then it's the man having the black coffee and the woman having the white?? This happens so often to us it surely cannot be a coincidence!!

DH is veggie, I’m not. More often than not, regardless of where we eat, the server tries to hand him the meat dish and me the veggie dish.

@YetAnotherSpartacus he's 17. He is experimenting and hasn't yet realised that there's only two acceptable forms of coffee - espresso and americano

@RizzleDrizzle

I agree with the previous poster who said you sound like a dick

Yes imagine some one who’s allergic to lactose not ordering their perfectly normal soya/coconut/oat latte and just ordering a coffee with milk cos you think they sound superior, and it’s holding you up in line with your prawn sandwich on granny whole meal bread hold the tomato’s sandwich. (I know the prawn sandwich joke is likely to go over most people’s heads... Roy Keane will explain why I picked prawn sandwiches)

Shouldn’t there be a different line for self important people who think that they know that “a coffee with milk” is the only way to order a coffee, like not in the coffee shop!

Agreed

@queenofknives

No one especially enjoys queuing but it's a fair system. Maybe you should try cultivating patience. What's the big hurry? What makes your time so much more important than everyone else's? Why not take the opportunity to contemplate how fucking great life still is that we can get fancy coffees and sandwiches made for us at the drop of a hat.

If you’re on a lunch break you don’t want to spend most of it queuing.

Starbucks has mostly solved this with their app. You can order as fancy as you want and it's waiting there to pick up when you arrive. The queues are much, much faster as a result.

@mayflowerapplepie

Ha you would all hate living in Australia. I had a little laugh at myself when I heard myself ordering a double shot soy flat white and a grande skinny latte extra hot It’s just normal here. I am now a coffee snob and I don’t care. It is excellent coffee. Being a barista is a fairly respected job as far as they go and no one round here would put up with any shit

I worked in a restaurant in Australia during uni and we all hated when someone ordered “just a coffee thanks”. They were always Brits or Americans! How am I meant to know what coffee you want. Just say skim latte or flat white etc. It’s the same for tea as well, I’m not a mind reader how do I know what tea you want!

If you’re on a lunch break you don’t want to spend most of it queuing.

I take a packed lunch to work (or pick up a Sandwich at 7:30am enroute to work)because I haven’t got time to queue at lunchtime.

No one is making you spend time in a queue, it’s an entirely optional activity.

Well, this is why most places have a queue to order and pay and a separate pick up area.

@emmetgirl

When I hear someone order a "one shot decaf oat latte" I want to suggest they just get a glass of water.

I was told that in some parts of Australia a decaf latte with skinny milk is called the 'No Point'.

What annoys me is people who do this in a busy cafe:

"Ok, that'll be 12.90, please"
Starts reaching into handbag and looking for purse. Eventually finds purse and starts looking for money. 1 minute later hands over money. Takes back money and takes another 1 minute to put it back in correct purse compartment and zipping up hand bag. All nice and tidy. Then another 30 seconds carefully sorting purchases ready for lifting.
"Bye thank you!"
GLARES

@BarbaraofSeville

I don't generally go in coffee shops because I'm a tightwad and I don't know how to ask for what I want apart from in Starbucks* and I don't want to be that person when there's a queue behind me to say can I have whatever is most like an extra hot quite strong milky coffee with no foam, but bigger than a flat white, which is sometimes OK, but not always as 'flat' as one would expect from the name and too small anyway.

*It's not on the menu but is in the till, but the closest to what I want is a caffe misto in Starbucks which is half filter coffee, half hot milk, and it's a bit of a lottery whether the serving person has a. heard of this and b. will actually agree to sell it to you. They often claim that 'they don't do that one any more' which could be true, it's probably years since I tried to get one.

But in McDonalds, I just use the machine and get a latte and a single or double espresso to put in depending on how much caffeine I need. And it's still cheaper and nicer than the smallest cheapest offering from Costa.

While I don’t have a clue what the actual name is as I’m a just a large black coffee with cold milk on the side please girl and I completely ignore every other part of the menu.

But I would have thought that what you do in McDonald’s would work in any coffee shop. So can I have a latte with an extra shot please and if the queue isn’t too long no foam on that please, thank you.
Or I like flat white but they are too small what can I have instead? Again only if there is not a woman with a sandwich behind you!

Are they still doing queues and counter service in coffee shops?

If it's not covid safe to queue up for a beer, then it can't be to do the same for coffee?

I think you might have been behind my BIL, OP ...

I live in France and the coffee options are limited. I love it.

Separate queues would be a brilliant idea. Can we have a queue for impatient sandwich buyers so they can leave us more refined coffee drinkers to it?

I dont mind someone ordering a wanky coffee in starbucks or costa becauae thats sort of the point of them

I think other cafes should have a seperate coffee ordering and paying area. Or table service

The worst type of people are parents (usually dads) ordering coffee in innapropriate places like ice cream vans, burger vans, the fish and chip shop.

Their child spends avout 10 minutes deciding on their ice cream flavour at the front of the queue, but I let them off because theyre 5. Then just as they are about to pay they will throw in the 4 fancy coffees that the ice cream can doesnt have a clue how to make. They never order the coffees at the start always at the 'anything else sir'

Or cocktails in pubs/clubs. Cocktail bars fair enough but not when the queue is 30 people long

People who work/have worked in coffee shops in fairly recent years...

When you ask people if they want hot or cold milk, is it really irritating when someone says, "Whatever's easiest please."

I'm far too much of a tight wad to go into coffee shops very often, but I have said this a few times (because I couldn't care less whether the milk is hot or cold).

Wow so you can't even order a coffee these days without judgement. Why the hurry? It's Saturday morning. If it's a lunch break issue, vote with your feet and go elsewhere with a shorter queue or pack your own.

The level of negativity and judgement on this site is staggering.