http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/22/a-misunderstanding-at-the-starbucks-counter/?ref=nyregion
New
York Times
22 May 2012
Metropolitan
Diary
By
PAUL KLENK
Dear
Diary:
My
ears did a double-take a couple of months ago when a customer at the Starbucks
on Lexington
and 40th ordered something called "a black guy." The cashier repeated
"black guy" to the barista, so I knew I had heard correctly. When I
noticed others order this drink a day or two later, I became curious, and asked
Frank, the cashier, "What's a `black guy'?"
"It's
two shots," he replied.
My
jaw dropped. "You mean, like...?"
"Yeah,"
Frank laughed, miming two blows to his head. "Two shots!"
I
was mortified. A simple double espresso had taken on a racially offensive and
violent nickname, and Starbucks was laughingly going along with it. It bothered
me deeply, and for weeks I considered writing to the company. But what could I
ask them to do?
I'm
glad I didn't write that letter. The other day, I ordered a venti dark roast
with a shot of espresso. The cashier, in Starbucks' typical passive-aggressive
practice of rewording every order, called out to the barista: "A venti
bold red eye."
"What's
a `red eye'?" I inquired.
"A
red eye is an extra shot," she explained. "A black eye is two shots;
a purple eye, three shots."
