Starbucks barista sparks fury after ‘accidentally gaslighting’ elderly customer
FlickrA Starbucks employee went viral after they accidentally gaslighted an older woman who came into the store, asking for her coffee in a mug.
In a Reddit post that’s gone viral on the platform, a Starbucks barista shared an interaction she’d had with an elderly customer of late.
“Today an older woman and her husband came into my store and asked for their lattes in mugs. I apologized and explained we didn’t serve drinks in mugs here simply because we don’t have any,” she begins.
She goes on to explain in the thread that she’s worked at that particular Starbucks for two years, and they’ve never stocked mugs.
“The woman was so distraught, she swore she had gotten a latte in a mug last week at my store. She even called her friend that she got coffee with. Her husband tried to defend her and asked if I was the manager, if I could check in the back, etc…”
Eventually, the couple speculated that they might have been wrong, and had gotten the coffee in another store.
She relayed the story later to her coworkers, who found the whole thing hilarious. “My shift gave me a look across the room like “Hey guess what” and just opened a cabinet to reveal the mugs. I had been off the previous two days and apparently, we got a shipment of them in.”
“I just feel so bad that I unintentionally gaslit that woman,” she finishes.
Reddit furious over elderly customer being ‘gaslit’
After the woman posted the story on Reddit, people were torn over the situation, with many fellow baristas annoyed at the poster’s behavior.
“My question is when they asked if you were the manager or if you could check in the back… did you not do any of that? Because wouldn’t that have solved the problem since after the fact you actually found out that your store has it?”
“I second this. And I don’t see the humor your co-workers saw, really what was funny? it sounds like the lady was very disappointed and as you said, distraught. I love old ladies and hate to hear of them being ignored or disappointed,” another weighed in.
“Yeah, I almost feel this is worse than gaslighting. Willful ignorance and 100% confidence. Plus the post seems to be intentionally manipulating,” a store manager wrote.
One user, however, thought everyone was making a big deal out of nothing, writing sarcastically: “But instead (the elderly couple) were forced to drink out of disposable cups. The horror.”
