The Starbucks experience

So it came to pass that after i got out of the gym, i decided to meet a couple of my closest friends for some grocery shopping and dinner. And since it was still early to call it a night, we decided to go to starbucks megamall for more chit chat.

Carrying heavy grocery bags, we took our seats inside. I went with my firend to order while another friend of ours stayed in her seat. The female barista was generally nice -- she even offered us a sample of their raspberry green tea frap.

Now for our starbucks experience:

A lady was waiting at the counter for her drink. And by the way she was talking to the guy preparing them, it seemed that they were kinda chummy with each other.

And then he called my friend's name. While we were talking, reaching for our drinks, the barista looked at me straight in the eye and said: Can i see your receipt?

Of course I knew that asking for the receipt is SOP. But, when i looked around, there weren't anyone else waiting for their coffee. In fact, aside from the lady that tha barista was friendly to, it was just us who fell in line to order. So what was the receipt check for?

The lady who waited with us heard everything. And since the whole place was quiet, i bet some other customers heard it too. There were three cups sitting on the counter. The lady already got hers. We were the only ones who entered the premises in the last 15 minutes. We were the only ones who ordered. Logically, the remaining cups were for us.

We felt humiliated.

And then it hit me that among all the fashion forward coffee drinkers inside starbucks, i was just wearing a plain shirt and basketball shorts. My female friends were also in very casual shirts and shorts. We didn't look like typical starbucks fashionistas. In short, we didn't look like we were capable of buying their overpriced coffee.

I headed back to our table, got the receipt and gave it to him. I really wanted to shove it in his face. But I just told him to check the receipt (na tinignan nya talaga ng maigi) while i grabbed our coffees.

I swear the next time I want coffee, i'm going to the 'friendlier and less high-brow' cafe across the street.