Dang, been a while since I’ve posted an update here. Without further ado…
click here for the rant
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve been attending a writers’ meetup every Monday at this tea bar near me for a few months now. It’s a great event and I’ve made some good friends through this so that’s why I go, but outside of that I don’t really drop by the tea bar. Some things you must know are that the tea bar closes at 10PM every night except on Sundays, that it advertises itself as a spot for night owls, and that I’ve consistently stayed till just before the store closes (so I’d pack my things at around 9:50-ish and then leave by 9:55-ish).
After the most recent Monday write night, I stayed behind as I usually did. It was just me and this other girl a few tables to my left. I was doing stuff on my laptop and she was doing something with her notebook. One of the staff, this bald man with glasses, swung by and said they were close to closing. The other customer and I checked our phones and were like, okay, we still have time, it’s only around 9:15.
Then at around 9:40-ish, the same dude stormed into the room and said: “You both have to leave now.”
The girl and I exchanged confused looks. She nicely asked, “Do you guys close at 10?”
The guy rudely replied, “We close when I say we close.” Then he talked about how all the other customers had already left and he wasn’t feeling that well, so he wanted to close the shop early.
We didn’t argue after that. We just packed our things while exchanging glances, and when we walked out the door, we just went, did he just kick us out?
Look, I get that work isn’t fun and it sucks to do it while you’re not feeling at your best, but at the same time there’s no excuse for the tone he used. I’ve worked in food service for 2+ years and worked all kinds of shifts, including closing shifts which lasted until 11PM. Hell, I’ve even worked shifts while on 2 hrs of sleep. Yet at the campus cafeteria we didn’t kick people out until more than 15 mins had elapsed after closing time, and even then we gave gentle reminders. No matter how sucky things were or how angry I was, I never took things out on a customer. In fact, I’m sometimes surprised by how nice and approachable I turn out because inwardly I’m often in a state of rage.
The other girl has also worked a service job, in retail specifically. She brought up about how when she worked in Macy’s, they couldn’t just shoo people out the way the guy did even while the store was closing. There was no excuse for rudeness.
And get this: we were both regulars at the tea bar. Hell, I find their drinks mid at best—and tried many that were downright awful—but still ordered something every time I went, because I knew I was going to spend a lot of time there and wanted to support a small business. Sometimes I even order multiple things if I’m staying there longer than usual. I was even considering buying some of their stuff as gifts for friends.
Well they’re never seeing another cent from me.
I’ve talked about this with my write night friends and they both agreed that the staff member was rude. That was also when I found out that both of those friends practically never order at the tea bar and just show up to write night without getting a drink. Looks like I’ll be following them, because I do like spending time with fellow writers, but I just can’t be bothered to give them any more money.
I’m not mad about them closing 20 mins earlier than their posted closing time without warning. I’m mad about how they went about it.
While on one of my hot chocolate runs—those who follow my food thread know—I dropped by this café called Chiqueolatte that usually closes at 7PM. However, at 6PM, one of the staff approached me and informed me that they were closing and that I had to go. I was confused and asked if their closing time was changed, since Google said it was 7PM. He replied that they usually close at 7PM, but that night they had a private event so they had to close an hour early. I then said I would be out immediately and just needed to pack my things, and he was understanding.
Right before I left, he and another staff member asked me if I’d like a free strawberry waffle dessert. Since they had to close early, they also had to cancel an order that someone else wasn’t able to pick up on time. I gladly took it, and I also asked if they had a bag to help carry it, and he happily got me one!
So I walked out earlier than I planned because they closed an hour early, but I was still happy, because hey, they went about it nicely and even gave me a free treat.
Just makes last night’s incident all the more infuriating.
I forgot who else in here has worked in the service industry before, but if you have (or even if you haven’t), I’d love to hear your thoughts on the above 
Oh, and exciting news, but I also finally decided to resume writing the third book of my YA fantasy series! Yes, I’ll be tackling two books at once. They’re very different but that’s the fun part 
hopefully I’ll be able to make decent progress on both next year!
it’s honestly one of the best things to see this holiday season 
what did I do to deserve such a kind reader? 
And don’t worry. Male love interest has problems of his own. Things are complicated. 
