A Starbucks customer has some grave concerns about the lack of line control in the coffee chain’s stores.
TikTok creator @xo_pennypink aired her grievances in a recent video that has garnered more than 326,000 views and more than 33,000 likes.
She starts with the rhetorical question, “So you know how some people just don’t have any common sense whatsoever?” From there, she shared an encounter in which a customer messed up the delicate balance of line logistics at Starbucks, possibly to cut to the front of the line.
The creator begins with a breakdown of how Starbucks intended things to be.
“Starbucks stores are set up so that you walk in and you walk right to the end of the line, because there’s a line,” she says. “Then, it goes past the food case and it goes all the way up to the cashier. And then, you walk to the area where you wait for your drink and your name to be called together.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to the creator via TikTok comment and Starbucks via email.
@xo_pennypink just dont go out in public maybe #fyp #karen #starbucks #kareninthewild #commoncourtesy #commonsense ♬ original sound – xo, penny pink💖✨
@xo_pennypink further notes that she was in Starbucks waiting for two elderly women with walkers to finish up a conversation with the counter person before ordering.
As she’s waiting behind the two elderly women, another woman walks up to the line but stops in front of @xo_pennypink.
“She’s kind of looking at me, she’s looking at them and then you can see this realization look on her face of like, ‘Oh, this young woman is waiting in line,’” she says.
Then, the two older women finally wrap it up, and there’s an awkward moment in which the woman inquires if @xo_pennypink is in line.
“I said, ‘Yeah, I’m in line in Starbucks to order a drink and pay for it at the cash register,’” the creator continues. “And I can see this look on her face where she’s about to ask me if she can cut me in line just because she came in the wrong end and wanted to cut in front or whatever. I just immediately zoomed up to the register.”
Commenters reacted to several aspects of the story.
“Sbux barista here,” admits one person. “It happens ALL THE TIME. I often have to direct line traffic and tell people, ’Ma’am, they were next in line, not you.’”
Another person not into having their personal space invaded relayed their own experience waiting in line.
“There was a guy pressed up against my back in line at Starbucks, but we were the only two people in line so there was NO reason for that,” they explain.
“It never fails to amaze me how many people don’t understand how a line works,” another person comments.
One commenter introduced an ick that went even further than the creator’s noting, “I once saw someone cut in line for a drive-through. Truly a wild experience.”