The Trash Can Game and The Magic Exploding Latte...

So you know how in my last post I mentioned that ‘I love my job but I really wanted to be trained to be a barista?

Well…..today I was trained as a barista.

Coolest. Thing. EVER.                                                                          

Yeah, I can make lattes and caramel macchiatos and stuff. And I got to smell coffee ALL DAY. Not so say that I was inhaling espresso or anything, it was just the coffee smell in the air, you know?

I always looked at baristas in awe, like they had some amazing talent that I could never in my wildest dreams posses. Like, they were in touch with coffee. It spoke to them. And it does speak to us. We are in touch with it. And it does take talent and by gosh I do posses it! (Victory dance)

Anyhow, the first order of the day was just a plain latte. Simple. I was so excited. My heart pounded within me as my coworker, Natasha, lead me over to the espresso machine and showed me what to do. On the next order, she had me make the latte. So I made the espresso, and then I started to steam the milk. Before I knew what happened, the steaming hot milk exploded all over everything including me and Natasha. It was SO embarrassing. And so funny. I have this strange tendency to laugh at myself when I do something really stupid. What else can you do? Everyone else is laughing at you, so you might as well laugh too because getting mad is getting nowhere. Like earlier this week at youth group we played this game where we all stood in a circle and held hands and sang Kumbaya there was a trash can in the middle. The goal was this: we all had to try to pull other people into or over the trash can. Now, keep in mind I had a little summer dress on therefore I wasn’t too thrilled about this game and figured that being the absolute klutz that I am, I’d probably fall over…in my dress…awwwwwwkwarrrdddd. Nevertheless, I forced myself to stay in. I tried to think optimistic thoughts. So as I stood hand in hand with the two guys beside me, ShinDong (who makes really legit origami frogs) and Jake (the next American Idol) my optimistic thoughts began to fade. I almost wished that I was in between two girls because, let’s face it, we girls are dumb and not competitive and lose just so we don’t have to play (okay, not all girls, but a lot). However, it was too late to take such action and so I stuck it out. I’m pretty sure that Jake and ShinDong were thinking the exact opposite thing during this game because they kept running in the opposite direction and therefore I was being pulled left and right. Yet somehow, I managed to stay in and in the end it was just me and ShinDong left. Then we played another round and it had the same ending, which I thought was hysterical considering that I’m the least athletic person ever. So anyways, it was: Me. The Boy. And the trash can.

I was dead meat.

I looked up at ShinDong standing across from me; I was probably squeezing the life out of his hands, as I mouthed “Please don’t make me fall….please”. So then our youth leader, Matt (…his middle name is awesome…), started counting to three, I braced myself. On three Matt ran up and pushed ShinDong, thinking that maybe it’d spare me the humiliation of falling (my guess), but somehow (I have NO IDEA how since I didn’t see it coming) I toppled over. Or more like, I flew backwards and tried to land somewhat gracefully.

My first thought was, “Oh my gosh this is awful. How embarrassing.”

My second thought was, “….It happens…now laugh before they realize how embarrassed you are!!!”

So I laughed.

Sorry, that was a really long rabbit trail.

Anyways, back to the coffee. Or milk rather. It flew everywhere and all the old guys at the coffee bar were cracking up. So I cracked up with them and grabbed a rag and started to clean up. Thankfully this was my only major mishap of the day. Everything else went pretty smooth and I love my job even more. Even though I had to wake up at 4:30am to get to work on time, it was worth it.

Oh and another thing, my co-workers and my boss, are amazing! I feel so blessed to once again be working amongst super nice, funny people.

Tomorrow I work again, being St. Patty’s Day (and being like, 1/16^th Irish myself) I have to find something green to wear. I hope we don’t sell green bagels…

Paper Cuts and the Lame Guy at Starbucks...

Oh the agony of sitting down at a computer on a lovely day like this...

Unfortunately, my conscience has been nagging at me to “get back in the blogging business” and stop “deserting my precious readers”. Not that I really have any readers, and that’s all the better because sometimes I think it’d be better if the world didn’t get a glimpse into my personal thoughts like this. But then, it could be a good thing seeing as you may actually somewhat kind of possibly almost understand me a teensy bit after going through my blog. I don’t know.

…The caffeine is talking again.

                                                         …..Shhhh…..

Anyways…you might know from my last post that I quit my job, and well…in that time I’ve found a new one. All I did was print up a bunch of resumes and drive in to town and start looking. I started out at Payless Shoe Store where they told me that I had to be eighteen to work there. What. The. Heck. I mean, really, it’s not like I’m selling knives or lighters or alcohol! They’re SHOES for crying out loud!

Yeah…

So after that, I walked over to the Hallmark store and they told me the same thing. Probably because selling overpriced cards and books is super dangerous. Paper cuts you know…

Then I went to Starbucks. Oh loverly Starbucks. I walked in and as soon as I saw the guy working, I pretty much knew that he wouldn’t know whether or not they were hiring. He kind of smiled and said, “Heyyyy how can I help you?”

I asked if they were hiring by any amazing chance.

“Ummm……er…….ehhh…..ahhhh….I’m not sure…..you could check online?”

Yeah…that’s what he said.

So I thanked him and left.

Then I saw a Big Apple Bagels across the parking lot (All these businesses were kind of located in a strip mall type of thing) and I thought, “Why not?” I drove over there and to my great delight I saw a gargantuan “HIRING” sign on the door. So I straightened my dress, put my shoulders back (I have a nasty habit of slouching), slapped a hopeful smile on my face and walked on in. I had no idea what they did at Big Apple Bagels…. (Although I was guessing it had something to do with bagels, I mean come on…I’m not that dumb…) but I knew I needed a job. Opening the door, I caught a delightful whiff of fresh bagels and coffee! Oh it was so nice and toasty in there, I smiled to myself and walked swiftly (without tripping oh sweet surprise) over to the lady at the counter (who I later found out was the manager) and told her that I noticed they had a HIRING sign out front and that I was interested in working here if they’d have me (although I said it much less eloquently [not that that was at all eloquent or anything] and I’m pretty sure I stuttered….a lot). So the lady handed me an application containing questions such as, “Have you committed a felony in the last five years?” and “Why do you want to work here?” and blah blah blah. I filled it out and brought it back to her, she looked it over and asked me if I’d come in Wednesday at 7:30am for a working interview. I just about squealed in excitement and told her that I’d most definitely be there.

Wednesday morning I was so siked that I practically leapt out of bed and I started singing the theme song from Happy Days!

Wednesday morning, like every morning, I slapped my alarm clock thing repeatedly until it turned off, and almost fell back to sleep. I dreamt about my mom bringing me coffee in bed and I actually considered posting that on facebook hoping that she’d see it and bring me the elixir of life itself, but then I realized that I would have to sit up to drink it so I might as well just get up. Gosh, I thoroughly despise mornings. A lot. Though nevertheless, I survived and I made it to my working interview on time. Like, RIGHT on time. The manager, being the joyful extrovert that she is, was really excited (or acted like it) to see me and we started training right away. That day was focused on sandwich building and smearing cream cheese on massive bagels. It was actually pretty fun, I learned fast and once I got over my fear of the knife I could whip up a triple decker sandwich in almost no time at all! Still, the whole time I was making food, I wished inwardly that I was making coffee. One of the reasons that I wanted the job was so I could (make money for college and…) learn how to make lattes and frappuccinos and such because…well, I love coffee.

Near one o’clock I got the news that I was hired. I was ecstatic as I skipped out of the building and into my car. Of course the first thing I did was post it on facebook. Something to the effect of, “I GOT THE JOBBBB!!!!”

So yeah. Now I have an amazing job. Thank you Jesus!