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I do not know why people do this but SO many people come in to my work and ask me to call cabs for them.
When people first started doing this I had no problem with it, justifying it by reminding myself that yes, even though I too have a cell phone, it doesn't always have minutes or a charged battery an shit happens.
Now it's at the point where I tell people I don't know any cab numbers, and if they don't already know one I can't call for them.
Am I being bitchy? Probably.
But this is why I don't care:
People treat coffee shops as sort of a drop-in centre, using them for all sorts of things such as shelter from the elements, a place to pee, or, in this case, a cab service. While the people who do this are a minority compared to those who actually treat coffee shops as a business, their existence does not go unnoticed.
Of course the people who want cabs aren't buying anything, they're just expecting us to stop what we're doing (because they can never come in when the shop is dead) and do for them what they're wholly capable of doing themselves.
And then they sit.
And they wait.
And they don't buy anything.
I'm sorry, I know this shop is not MY shop, but I really do appreciate the fact that as a business the people in there generally are expected to be customers, and just stopping in and demanding we call a taxi for you then taking up seats that paying customers could be using is even more bitchy than my reluctance to help you out.
Need a cab? Cool, there's a Wal Mart in the next plaza with a taxi phone and the mall across the street has seven taxi phones, one at each major entrance.
Go use one of those if you're so hard up, at least then you're not expecting someone to hold your hand through the process and are actually exhibiting some signs of self-sufficiency.
Oh and when I'm busy serving people who are actually here to make purchases and simply hand you the cordless phone, do not shove it back at me and tell me it's my "job" to call for you.
You are so gravely mistaken I don't even know where to begin.
My job is to make and serve various coffee related beverages, and last I checked calling a cab didn't involve espresso and milk, so shove it.
Yes, if you get on my nerves enough I will kick you out. I can do that - I have that power. This is not one of those massive stores where low-end employees have no rank. There are typically only two people working at any given time and usually just one person.
When there are two of us we share power equally over everything you see and touch in this shop.
When it's just me I am god and no one has more power than I do.
You want to speak to the manager? OK, but just so you know when it's just one of us we have all managerial power so... good luck with that.
You want to talk to the actual manager?
Good. Come back at 7am when she's in.
Want to talk to the owners?
K, come back at 9:45pm, but be forewarned that he'll already have been informed of this and always sides with us.
Want to talk to corporate?
Go right ahead, this is a franchise and corporate doesn't have as much power as you'd like to think.
So in short: coffee shops are not drop-in centres, they are not public toilets and they are not taxi services.
Abuse any of those things to an extreme that deviates even slightly from the norm* and you will be asked to leave.
Asked the first time, told the second time.
*What I would consider the "norm" would be a one-time thing, as opposed to the repeat offenders we have at my work, like, for example, the guy from the liquor store who comes in almost every day, stinks up our washroom and leaves without buying anything. You sir, are cut off.
When people first started doing this I had no problem with it, justifying it by reminding myself that yes, even though I too have a cell phone, it doesn't always have minutes or a charged battery an shit happens.
Now it's at the point where I tell people I don't know any cab numbers, and if they don't already know one I can't call for them.
Am I being bitchy? Probably.
But this is why I don't care:
People treat coffee shops as sort of a drop-in centre, using them for all sorts of things such as shelter from the elements, a place to pee, or, in this case, a cab service. While the people who do this are a minority compared to those who actually treat coffee shops as a business, their existence does not go unnoticed.
Of course the people who want cabs aren't buying anything, they're just expecting us to stop what we're doing (because they can never come in when the shop is dead) and do for them what they're wholly capable of doing themselves.
And then they sit.
And they wait.
And they don't buy anything.
I'm sorry, I know this shop is not MY shop, but I really do appreciate the fact that as a business the people in there generally are expected to be customers, and just stopping in and demanding we call a taxi for you then taking up seats that paying customers could be using is even more bitchy than my reluctance to help you out.
Need a cab? Cool, there's a Wal Mart in the next plaza with a taxi phone and the mall across the street has seven taxi phones, one at each major entrance.
Go use one of those if you're so hard up, at least then you're not expecting someone to hold your hand through the process and are actually exhibiting some signs of self-sufficiency.
Oh and when I'm busy serving people who are actually here to make purchases and simply hand you the cordless phone, do not shove it back at me and tell me it's my "job" to call for you.
You are so gravely mistaken I don't even know where to begin.
My job is to make and serve various coffee related beverages, and last I checked calling a cab didn't involve espresso and milk, so shove it.
Yes, if you get on my nerves enough I will kick you out. I can do that - I have that power. This is not one of those massive stores where low-end employees have no rank. There are typically only two people working at any given time and usually just one person.
When there are two of us we share power equally over everything you see and touch in this shop.
When it's just me I am god and no one has more power than I do.
You want to speak to the manager? OK, but just so you know when it's just one of us we have all managerial power so... good luck with that.
You want to talk to the actual manager?
Good. Come back at 7am when she's in.
Want to talk to the owners?
K, come back at 9:45pm, but be forewarned that he'll already have been informed of this and always sides with us.
Want to talk to corporate?
Go right ahead, this is a franchise and corporate doesn't have as much power as you'd like to think.
So in short: coffee shops are not drop-in centres, they are not public toilets and they are not taxi services.
Abuse any of those things to an extreme that deviates even slightly from the norm* and you will be asked to leave.
Asked the first time, told the second time.
*What I would consider the "norm" would be a one-time thing, as opposed to the repeat offenders we have at my work, like, for example, the guy from the liquor store who comes in almost every day, stinks up our washroom and leaves without buying anything. You sir, are cut off.
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