Page 2
7/11/2024
And the love keeps coming…
My barista continues to slip me little goodies every now and then. Notice the edition of the folded napkin under the candy that has not appeared in previous deliveries.
![glass of ice coffee with small glass of water to the right. In from of the water sit two pieces of candy on a small napkin folded into a triangle.](https://docs.gato.txst.edu/696681/w/2000/wgsdG69CBExp/coffee-1424.jpg)
![Coffee, water, and a choclate chip cookie](https://docs.gato.txst.edu/697226/w/2000/dWO4tIWZuY3G/coffee4-1453.jpg)
My barista must have noticed that I always put a small napkin under my coffee to catch the condensation so that it doesn't drip onto my computer when I take a drink. She has now started delivering my coffee with a napkin under the glass. How observant and thoughtful! Also, there is another little perk…she is now consistently filling my glass with about ½" more coffee and less ice than when I first started coming in. See next picture for a comparison. Also notice in the picture above there is one sphere of ice, in the picture below there is two small pieces of ice, and in the last picture there are two spheres of ice and about ½" less coffee.
![glass of ice coffee with small glass of water to the right. The coffee now has a small white paper napkin under it.](https://docs.gato.txst.edu/696680/w/2000/vZ-LDljOOcyy/coffee2-1433.jpg)
This is a picture from one of my first visits to this coffee shop.
![picture of small glass of water on left and larger glass of coffe on right. There is a black spoon in front of the glasses.](https://docs.gato.txst.edu/696693/w/2000/rT4WnBmoZiGN/coffee3-0176.jpg)
I think I mentioned this in a prior post, but in case I didn't…I started out with a punch card and on every 10th cup-o-Joe I bought, I got a free one. That soon changed to giving my phone number to get a 10% discount. Now I no longer need to give my phone number to get the a 10% discount.
Tipping is not a part of the Vietnamese culture. In fact, if I were to try and show my appreciation by leaving/giving my barista a tip, I would be viewed by her as being arrogant and flaunting my wealth. To make up for it, I always greet my barista, who is actually the head barrista, with a friendly smile and nice “Chào cháu!”!to which she will smile and say “Chào bác!”. I also say the same when I leave because the greeting for “hello" and “goodbye” is the same. I always greet, and treat, the other baristas the same. They all recognize me, and are all just as friendly to/with me. Notably, their greeting to me is “Chào bác” which means “Hi uncle”. They use this greeting because they think I am about the same age as their uncle. I should actually be greeted as “Chào ông” as I am clearly old enough to be their be their grandfather. As we used to say back in the day…“but, hey! who am I to blow a myth away?”
NOVEMBER p.2, p.3, p.4, p.5, p.6, p.7
DECEMBER p.2, p.3, p.4, p.5 p.6, p.7, p.8
MARCH p.2, p.3, p.4 p.5, p.6, p.7
APRIL p.2, p.3, p.4, p.5, p.6, p.7, p.8, p.9, p.10, p11
May, p.2, p.2b p.3, p.4, p5, p.6 p.7, p.8