Flirting with the Cute Barista

Transcript

Welcome, what can I get for you? You're not sure? How special? Okay, sure.

I can whip something up. I'll come back to you with your drink in a bit. Okay, gotcha.

You can sit closer and watch the show if you'd like, sort of our thing. Well, it's every cafe's thing. Do you like your coffee strong? Okay.

Well, I'm not much of a coffee drinker myself. Yes, there are people that work the siphons as good as I do, thank you, and that don't drink coffee. How do I know if my coffee's good? People like you? Well, every cup I make, once I give it to the customer, I usually ask them how it is.

They're very vocal about it. A lot of coffee enthusiasts around here, so they'll come up and give you their very honest review up close and personal. For the most part, it's been pretty good, but some people can be very feisty with the way they make their drink.

They'll even come up here with a Starbucks type of order, and I'm just here sitting like a duck. I have no idea what they're saying. How long have I been working here? Well, when did I start? Probably, maybe eight months now? No, no, no, seven.

Seven months. I'm not as good as you think, but thank you. No, I just studied architecture before this.

I had no plans of being a barista, but here we are. My uncle owns the place, so I helped him out a few years ago, and I guess he kind of liked my company, so I've just been running things for him for half the week when he's gone. And yeah, the customers seem to like me as well, so I'm pretty much a fixture around this place.

No, it's definitely for the cup of coffee. Thank you. Thank you.

I have a smooth voice, well, thank you. It's probably all the coffee, actually, no. Maybe that's why they come here, but I think you'll change your mind after you drink this.

Actually, once I can, this part's pretty important. You can tell half the worth of a cup of coffee just by the smell. You can lean closer.

Smells good. Jamaican Blue Mountain, yes, from Jamaica. It's a very unique climate over there in Jamaica, and they actually grow these seeds on volcanic ash.

It gives it a really unique taste, and it goes through an intense inspection process, so it helps that they only plant very few at a time, well, relatively speaking. So the yield is small, but you know, you'll know what you get. And what comes out is a cup of coffee that is rich and full of aroma.

Voila. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll be here all night. Here you go.

On the house. No, I'm playing. I get paid here, so please do pay.

Is it good? I mean, I told you I asked my customers. Okay, that's good.

I wouldn't normally recommend Jamaican Blue Mountain to new coffee drinkers, but it's a start. How did I know that you didn't drink much coffee? I don't know.

Just a hunch, I guess. Sorry. Don't mind me.

Enjoy your cup of coffee. Do you come around here often? I figured I never really saw you around here before.

I do live around this place, yeah. I live just a few blocks down. It's nice.

It's safe. It's peaceful. Though I'm pretty used to the hustle and bustle of the city, but it's definitely a nice break from all the traffic and all the people as soon as you step out the door.

All the walls that hug every door and all the little faint chirps, I never really knew that you missed until you heard it again at night. Sorry, that just came out. So back to you, may I ask where you're from? Ah, I see.

I have a friend that was from there. Well, I don't really talk to him much anymore, but you guys kind of sound alike, so I figured you were from there, too. I heard it's nice in the winter.

Ah, it's a bit too cold. Yeah, I see. That's fair.

Yeah, I'm planning to get up there when the time is right, I guess. We'll see. It's definitely on my list of places to go to.

Maybe I could even come visit you. No, I'm playing. What's it like around this time of the year? I see.

Is it cold? Is it hot? Just right? I see.

That's good to hear. Me? Well, I've pretty much lived here my whole life, but I did move again to the city freshman year of college, but I kind of dropped out.

It just wasn't for me. I mean, I could still come back, I have a good word in with my professors, but I guess the timing isn't just right, so. Yeah, just a lot of things.

No, no, I love what I was studying, but there's a lot of, I guess happiness, a lot of fulfillment that I get from just being around these people, being around these customers, working these siphons, studying on beans. Yes, it is as cool as it sounds. So should I expect you to be a regular or just passing by? That's a shame.

Well, it's a shame because we don't get a lot of customers around this time, which is kind of why I knew you weren't a regular. We get by. A lot of people know this place, but it's a very small community, so we don't expect a lot of traffic around this time.

Yeah. Thursday afternoon. Yep.

When it rains, we get a lot of people. I think the mix of the rain and the warm cup of coffee, you know, it's a classic in everyone's minds, and even people that aren't regulars come to stop by, get a cup of coffee, an Americano, and they'll just have a seat, and we can chat. Yes, I do chat with all of our patrons, but not this much, that's for sure.

Why? Well, first of all, you're new, and I want to make a good impression. Yes, that is all there is.

Okay, try not to read too much into it. Can't help but notice that you're quite sharply dressed for being around this place. What do you do, if you don't mind me asking? I see.

Okay, that's pretty cool, yeah. I don't know a lot of people from that line of work, so it's always fun hearing about that. Okay, is it fun? Is it stressful? Hmm, gotcha.

Is the schedule, like, pretty rough? Just right, okay. I mean, I hope it's flexible, at least.

Okay, that's good to hear. Oh, are you from that building, just. ..

Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, the one next to the gray one. Oh, I see.

With, like, the big fancy sliding doors, right, yeah. Yeah. I remember when that was.

.. I remember when they built that building. God, there was an absolute outcry.

You have no idea. I'm sure you heard, yeah. There was a cute little pond that was over there.

I wouldn't say pond, but I guess more so a garden that a lot of people passed by, sort of as a community thing. But, you know, that was taken down. I mean, you know, people are more accepting of it nowadays, but back then, there was definitely a lot of talk against that, against putting that building up.

But by God's, I think it's really cool, though, what you're doing. Are you still studying? Sorry, I cannot help but see that you still look very young.

Please take it as a compliment. I see. And what do you study? Okay.

That's cool. Is it more of like a book type of deal, or do you guys go out there and really do something crazy? Well, something crazy in the sense like reading up on past papers, doing some fieldwork.

Yes, that is my definition of crazy. Thank you. I see.

Okay. How's it been? Oh, no, no, no, no, no.

You are not talking too much, I promise you. I mean, hey, I'm the one that's asking, so you can talk about whatever you want to talk about to whatever extent you want to talk about. Deal? Well, for my end, I'll make you a good cup of coffee.

Okay, deal. So yeah, back to what you were studying. Okay, go ahead.

Yeah. And what would you say is the most interesting thing? Okay, that's really cool.

Yeah. I see.