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Cops Eject Starbucks Customer Who Wouldn't Use Their Lingo
By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 16, 2010
Modified Aug 16, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Aug 16, 2010
Modified Aug 16, 2010
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College English professor Lynne Rosenthal was threatened with arrest yesterday when she caused a nasty scene at a Starbucks on Columbus Avenue at 86th Street. Rosenthal's offense? Refusing to submit to Starbucks' corporate-speak, which requires customers to purchase "Tall" or "Venti" coffees. But Roshenthal is fed up with the chain's irritating idiom, and the Post reports that on Sunday she decided to make a stand. Over a bagel.
Granted, Rosenthal's first mistake was going to a Starbucks for a bagel when she was on the Upper West Side. But after ordering her multigrain bagel, she was peppered with the irksome question, "Do you want butter or cheese?" And that's when she snapped. "I just wanted a multigrain bagel," Rosenthal tells The Post. "I refused to say 'without butter or cheese.' When you go to Burger King, you don't have to list the six things you don't want. Linguistically, it's stupid, and I'm a stickler for correct English**. I yelled, 'I want my multigrain bagel!' The barista said, 'You're not going to get anything unless you say butter or cheese!' "**
But Rosenthal refused to submit, and would not leave. So the manager summoned the NYPD, who told her she could either exit the Starbucks or be arrested. "It was very humiliating to be thrown out, and all I did was ask for a bagel," says Rosenthal. "If you don't use their language, they refuse to serve you. They don't understand what a plain multigrain bagel is." An employee says Rosenthal called a barista an asshole, a word that should also be incorporated into the company's corporate vernacular.
Tagged
bagel
grammar
lingo
starbucks
sticklers
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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