Typical Day
Sam Presso (or S. Presso, as he is known professionally) wakes up at 5:30AM for his morning shift at Thanks a Latte Café and doesn't make himself any coffee—why would he when he gets unlimited complimentary coffee at the café? He heads straight to work on his bike and arrives there at 5:55AM—five minutes to spare.
He opens the door and starts to set up shop. He turns on the machines, checks the register, brews some coffee, and takes a seat with his book. He'll likely be there alone for another hour and a half. 7:30AM is when things gets really crazy. Until then, he'll pour three or four customers a regular coffee and, when the bakery that the café has teamed up with has delivered their fresh baked goods, he'll have a croissant, maybe a muffin, and enjoy the quiet of the morning.
At 7:30AM, in bursts Cathy. She has clearly just rolled out of bed a matter of minutes ago and is not prepared to face the reality of her shift.
"Good morning, Cathy!"
"No, it's not, Sam. It's not...."
He hands her a cup of coffee. "I know."
"You're an angel, but I hate you. It's too early to be that peppy."
"Well, get ready to dazzle the customers; the morning rush is going to start soon."
"Don't remind me."
Thirty minutes later, there are fifteen customers piled up in front of the counter, and they keep coming in. Cathy is managing the cash register as she barks orders at Sam. She serves filter coffee and baked goods to the customers and Sam obeys her every command.
"Soy latte for Ken!'
"Small cappuccino for Theresa!"
"Two mochas for Karen!"
"Frappuccino Mocha-choca-latte for Tom!”"
There are few pauses from 8:00AM until 10:00AM. It's a daily two-hour rush of nonstop barista-ing. And it's all the stressed out, crazy-busy, hyperactive working people in their pant-suits and ties. They want their coffee and they want it now.
In those two hours, Sam and Cathy get four passive aggressive comments, seventeen death glares, six evil eyes, and two formal complaints. It's actually a pretty good day. But when 10:15AM rolls around, it finally slows down. So Cathy and Sam can exhale and chill out a bit.
"Sam, get Lindsay over here an almond milk cappuccino, would you?"
"Yes ma'am!"
"Thanks so much," Lindsay says as she puts a dollar in the tip jar. Those extra seconds you get when there is not a line out the door can really make a difference with how special a customer feels...and that can mean tips.
At around noon, Sam goes around the cafe and cleans some of the tables. A couple of people have been sitting around working on their novels, which are all definitely going to be amazing and well-written. When they leave, it's his job to wipe down the tables and clear their mugs.
And then...in walks their favorite regular, Randy.
"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on, my favorite baristas?"
"Randy! Yay, Randy is here!" Cathy yells (almost too excitedly).
"A skim vanilla latte, then, Randy?" Sam asks eagerly.
"Yup, why change now?"
"You know what, the bakery gave us these new scones they wanted to test out on some of our customers, see if they could sell them," Sam says fervently. "You want one? On the house, of course."
"Are you kidding me? Free food? Hand it over!"
After getting his latte and scone, Randy says "I hate to order and run, but I've got a huge presentation and I have to head back now. I'll see you two tomorrow, though, okay? I want to hear about that screenplay you're writing, Cath!"
"Okay! See you tomorrow!"
He drops a fifty-dollar tip in their jar and heads out. He's been coming in for the past six months and nobody has any idea as to what he actually does for a living.
In what seems like an instant, it's 3:00PM. Sam is off. The perk of working so early in the morning is how early your day can end. Sam heads home on his bike and takes a nap. He knows that by the time he wakes up, all of his friends with their boring nine-to-five desk jobs will be ready to hang out.