In Defense of Murky Coffee
It's been a rough week for a few of my friends who work at Murky Coffee. See, Sunday, Barista David was following Murky's policy regarding the icing of drinks when he refused to serve a customer who wanted something in a verboten style. When another barista gave in and gave the guy what he asked for, against policy, David said it wasn't cool.
That's when the customer got irate. He browbeat the other barista into giving him what he demanded, even though it was against policy. He went back to his table. He got out a dollar bill, he scrawled on it in heavy and repeated strokes of a black pen, and left his mark. Carl from WLDC was there and wrote about it for the site, and confirms that there was an exchange between David and Jeff.
It got really fun when Nick responded to Jeff's blog post, especially when Nick threatened to punch Jeff in the dick if he ever saw him in his shop. Oy.
Let's get some things clear.
Jeff was an asshole. He thought his dollars gave him the right to dictate to a business how they should operate. I'm sorry, but that's not how it works. You dollar gives you the right to exchange a set of services offered by the business for your currency, not to demand how you want them to deliver it. The customer can, in fact, be wrong. I recognize this isn't a popular opinion, but when it comes to what services a business offers, that's up to the owner of the business. If they don't want to serve espresso over ice, they don't have to serve espresso over ice.
They owe the customer no explanation other than "I'm sorry, that is not a service that we offer." And if the customer browbeats you, you hold firm. Because they're not a special snowflake. And you've got your standards.
Nick was an asshole, in response. But he was an ass for the right reason. Jeff threatened to burn his shop down. Jeff browbeat and emotionally abused a member of Nick's staff because he could. Do I hope that Nick apologizes? Maybe he should, but only for promising violence. It would be one step above the fray. The comments on my flickr photos, on the WLDC entry, on BoingBoing, they're all full of so much stupid vitriol over a cup of coffee. It's enough to make me sick.
Here's the skinny: Murky makes great espresso. I've never had a bad a cup of coffee at Murky. Ever. And I'm there three to five times a week. I will continue to go back because they all seem to actually give a shit about making good coffee. Hell, if half of us had as much pride in their work as the Murky Baristas did, we'd be in a lot better shape, I think.
So, the next time you're met with the rejection of your consumer desires, instead of getting angry, stop. Chances are the person you're about to explode all over wasn't responsible for the choice. Chances are you should treat them with courtesy instead of disdain. Also, the next time you're asked for a service you don't provide, instead of getting snotty, explain your role in the policy. If it's your policy: stand behind it. If it's your boss' policy: explain as much, but honor it. But don't put up with any crap from a customer. Just because they're buying, it doesn't entitle them to mistreat you.
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