Starbucks Via Taste Test

We went to Starbucks Friday night to participate in their new product taste test. Via is a new product they are selling that is an instant coffee mix that is supposed to taste just like their regular coffee. They had a taste test advertised for this past weekend, where if you tried Via you got a free coffee, so as we were right by a Starbucks Friday night we decided to go in and try it out! Unfortunately the D-bag that was at the register couldn't handle the business at the store and told us they were only doing it from 7 AM to 11 AM, not knowing what the actual ad said we decided that he probably knew what he was talking about. So we left and went to a local coffee store and got Mocha Floats! Anyway once we got home I looked it up on Starbucks' website and there is no mention of times or that each store can do it as they please. Michelle even verified it on Sunday that it was not during those times by going to a Starbucks in NYC around 3 PM and getting it. So what I did was something I have wanted to do and will continue doing is I wrote Starbucks an Email through their website detailing our experience, and I am very interested to see if they respond. I will keep you updated!

Worst Waiter Ever

So we get back in to town after our trip and we have no food in the house (pretty common). Instead of doing the grocery store and all that good stuff we just wanted to eat some damn food, trying to avoid fast food we decide on Chez Elena Wu (what we expected to be a sit down chinese food restaurant similar to Hong Kong Ruby in Harrisburg). We get seated and look at the menu, it was a very odd assortment of different Asian cuisine and incredibly over priced. As we are looking through the menu deciding maybe we will try something (the food is not the point of the story). So we are looking through and a waitress comes up and asks how we are doing (assuming this would be our waitress, it was not), we tell her we are still looking.

It was at that point we encountered him. Now I know not everyone who comes into this country adapts to our social norms but this guy wasn't even trying. It reminds me of the Friends episode where Mike Hannigan (aka Crap Bag played by Paul Rudd) is hanging out at Ross' apartment and it is super awkward. He then is asked to intercept all phone calls, where Ross states Mike was playing with the boundaries of social conduct.

This guy didn't even come up to us at first but was doing the "I am going to get uncomfortably close, within normal conversation range" in order for you to notice that I am here. He stood about 3 feet away from me over my left shoulder and hovered there not saying a word and not leaving. He was in this waiter limbo where he wasn't taking orders but yet he was so close it was uncomfortable to talk to each other. I knew as soon as he heard us say the name of a food he was going to pounce. This went on for probably 10 minutes, just kept hovering right by us not suggesting anything, not asking if we needed more time just standing there and kind of started pacing after awhile (like CMON AND ORDER ALREADY). We ended up ordering 2 rolls of sushi because it was actually the cheapest thing on the menu (and it tasted like it) and tipping him a minimal amount. This guy was kind of the exclamation point on the suckiness of the restaurant.