Coffee, your Highness?

I went to my sister's Grand Demo last Wednesday. She was taking up vocational classes for Barista and needed guests to grade their presentations. It was March 20, 2013 and finally, around 2:15 pm I get to be a judge for a day. It was hot and humid at that time and the electric fan behind me kept blowing my hair sky high. The judging criteria was composed of 10% grooming, 20% sanitation, 20% attitude, 30% taste and 20% presentation for hot and cold coffees. To order, they made us line up and the first thing that I noticed was the menu. There were actually none in sight. I asked my companion and he didn't know either. Then I saw the slides that were projected in a screen were moving too fast. Finally, someone froze it to the lists of coffees for selection. I chose Cafe Bon Bon for my hot concoction, Honey Iced Hive for the cold and Club sandwich and brownies for my complements. I had to ask the order taker what Cafe Bon Bon was and from the looks on her face, I knew she had no idea. Strike 2! Ok, after having placed my orders, we went back to our seats. Here, the madness begun. Almost all of our orders were jumbled and everything had gone haywire. The customer in front of me was the luckiest. He kept on getting drinks and food even if he didn't order them. The one next to him was the most unluckiest. His coffees came really late and the caramel in one of his drinks have not melt properly. Luckily, my hot coffee was the only one that was served to me wrong. My Cafe Bon Bon turned into an Orange Coffee and I even found a piece of plastic in it. The best part was the complements. I loved the Clubhouse Sandwiches and the brownie, though my water came really really late. My friend was not so lucky either. His Mocha Coffee turned out too bitter and his brownie became a cupcake. When everything was finally done, I was disappointed maybe because I was expecting something better. The coffees were bitter and too strong for me that I ended up drinking some milk instead. I never thought being a taster could be this dangerous. I felt a little sad for them also. I knew they worked hard and spent a lot of money. The best thing that I can do was to give them a fair grade. Judging everything without bias and commenting on their good and bad sides. The group before us was not so lucky either, one of their guests made some commotion, yelling and enraging others. Deep inside, I thought that it shouldn't be like that. We must deal with problems in a civilized way. Yelling at waiters or waitresses won't help solve the matter but peaceful arrangements will, especially when you are only a guest and you don't have to pay for anything.

Perhaps, I'm a little mad.

A judge for a day.




Stranger Passing-By
SP-B/03/27/13