Featured Image Credit: Getty/Twitter
Topics: US News, Food and Drink
Katherine Sidnell
While it’s often said that good customer service goes a long way, one Starbucks barista has been praised for going the extra mile.
It’s after the coffee shop worker left a secret note on a paper cup, after spotting a young woman who was in trouble.
Touchingly, the young woman’s mom was so grateful that she later shared the story on social media.
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Recalling the incident on Facebook, Brandy Selim Roberson told her friends and family about how the employee had stepped in last year.
It happened while her 18-year-old had been studying alone in a Corpus Christi branch, when a man entered the coffee shop and started behaving strangely.
As it was the evening, staff were concerned about the high school student as the man became loud and animated.
Eager to intervene, a female barista wrote a secret note on a paper cup and handed it to the teen, saying that it was ‘an extra hot chocolate someone forgot to pick up’.
It read: “Are you okay? Do you want us to intervene? If you do, take the lid off the cup.”
The Texan student then looked towards the counter where, according to her mom, there was a ‘row of baristas staring at her — ready to step in’.
Though the student didn’t ask the employees didn’t ask staff to intervene, their kind gesture has been praised by Robertson.
She told The New York Post: “This reaffirms my faith in humanity.
"Maybe just seeing this story, others... if given the opportunity to say something or turn away, they would say something."
Unsurprisingly, the post also went viral with people praising the staff’s quick thinking online after the story was shared by Twitter page, Call to Activism.
One user wrote: “In today’s society more people should be proactive like this. You just never know what a situation really is. Kudos to the alert Starbuck’s staff. Never be silent and always ask.”
Another added: “As a parent, this story shook me to the core, but also gave me hope that there’s still some humanity out there.”
US news station WKYC confirmed the story with Starbucks at the time.
Sadly though, this isn’t the first time a hospitality worker has had to step in over bad behaviour.
Back in 2021, a Florida bartender went viral for a similar note he passed to two women on a night out.
Seeing that the pair were getting a lot of unwanted attention from a creepy customer, the bartender disguised a note as a receipt and assured them that he was willing to step in.
The note read: “If this guy is bothering you, put your ponytail on your other shoulder, and I will have him removed. He’s giving me the creeps.”
Here’s hoping that bartender got a big tip for being so on the ball.