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Milk Money

Working inside a shopping mall, our Starbucks experiences particularly high volume on weekend days. Most of the day, we have a line of customers out the door to that model car mall management displays to encourage passer-bys to give out their personal information for a chance to win, not the car, but a courtesy phone call for an opportunity to pick up a time share somewhere in Arizona! On one of these busy days, I was working my way down the line asking customers what they would like to drink in order to speed the paying process at the registers. I came across a woman who briskly held up a boxed child's chocolate milk. "I just need this," she glowered. "Ok, sounds good, we will ring you up as soon as we are able." I turned to greet the customer behind her only to barely miss the boxed milk sailing right by my ear. Had this bundle of joy actually thrown a box of milk at me? Indeed she had! As I looked at her for some sort of explanation, she thundered, "My child is choking, I don't have time to wait in your line!" Oh chocolate milk, elixer of choking children, salve of life-threatening emergencies. "I appologize ma'am, you're welcome to take a box of milk and I will take care of payment later, I didn't realize it was an emergency. We also have a free water station right behind you if you'd rather..." It was too late... my words fell deafly on the backside of b.o.j. exiting the store in humiliating haste. Perhaps she suddenly comprehended that yes, she had just thrown a box of milk at another person, and yes, every other customer in line was glaring after her, and yes, throwing boxes of milk at another person in any public place is far from appropriate, adult, mature behavior. I watched her scuffle back to her husband and uncoughing child outside the store and returned to "my line," this time ready for anything, even flying milk.
-rkc

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