I was a Starbucks barista — here’s how I got revenge on rude customers

Look what you made me brew.

Starbucks baristas are constantly under pressure to complete coffee orders as quickly as possible, so mistakes are bound to happen — sometimes innocently and other times deliberately.

A former Starbucks barista shared on Reddit how exactly they would sneakily seek out revenge on rude customers. The former employee wrote in the r/confession subreddit, “I worked at Starbucks for over six years, and the only way I could get back at rude customers was by subtly messing up their orders.”

“Nothing too crazy, but just enough to be annoying. Some would talk on their phones while ordering, make passive aggressive comments, or just talk down to us like we weren’t people,” they continued. “I was 22 then and I’m not exactly proud of it now.”

Further elaborating that although, “It didn’t happen often,” the former employee revealed that, “One time though, a lady asked me to steam her milk to 200 degrees. I told her it was a safety issue and I couldn’t do it.

“She snapped, ‘Hire someone who can.’ So yeah she got the decaf treatment,” they confessed.

The former barista’s post is filled with almost 200 comments of varying thoughts on this petty revenge. Some people who also work in the hospitality industry, related by sharing how they would seek vengeance on rude customers.

“I did petty things to rude customers all the time. I worked an overnight shift at a Mexican restaurant, so oftentimes we’d get the super rude and drunk crowd,” one commenter wrote. “I would do things like give people a small straw for a large drink or vice versa, give them one or two salsas for six tacos, or a single napkin, or tell them we were out of certain drinks even if we weren’t.”

“My friend worked at the Starbucks in the path in Toronto, he would take a very rude ladies teabag and rub it on the inside of the toilet bowl 10 minutes before she showed up. She drank shit tea everyday from him. Don’t feel bad about some decaf coffee LMAO. Also people be kind to the people who prepare your food,” added another person.

“I once put extra Tabasco sauce in a girls Caesar because she threw her ID at me when I asked for it (she was 19). She walked away saying ‘holy, this is spicy’ to her bf. Spicy drink for a spicy attitude,” chimed in another commenter.

On the other hand, several other commenters shared their concerns for tampering with someone’s coffee.

“You also can cause migraines in people who are dependent on caffeine at certain times of the day. Withdrawal is real and also not something to take lightly,” chirped one person.

“I understand that customers can be POS but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don’t do it the other way around. Decaf for a caffeine is ok. Giving caffeine when decaf is ordered is a medical emergency waiting to happen. Please keep this in mind,” said someone else.