coffee snobs

Coffee Snobs

Noah Nickel

This entry is going to be short, but hopefully thought provoking in some way. I, like millions of other Americans have bought into the sick desire to wait in long lines just to get an overpriced cup of coffee from a well known chain of coffee shops that are decorated with a mermaid. I have recently had back to back encounters that have left me with a bit of a bad taste in my mouth (not talking about the cups of burnt coffee I have received from there either). I have pulled through the drive thru, after waiting in line for longer than I should, I hand the “barista” my money (paying more than I should), only to receive (both times) rude, exaggerative, and condescending remarks about how I like my coffee. IT’S MY STINKIN’ COFFEE- NOT YOURS- GO MAKE IT – GIVE IT TO ME- AND LEAVE ME ALONE!!! The sad thing about this is I know I will continue to purchase these drinks, pay the same amount, and possibly be treated the same…..sick isn’t it.
My purpose for writing this is that through these small, brief, but impacting encounters- the understanding of the effect that others have on you was re-ignited to me. I don’t know either of those ladies, probably will never meet them on a personal level, don’t know if they’re married, have kids, like their job, their age, if they go to church anywhere, nothing. It’s kind of like a lot of the people that we come across at school, work, in the gym, even coffee shops- those that we’ll probably never see again, or get to know personally. The question is- what kind of impression do we leave on them? I can tell you that mine wasn’t too good.
I think when it comes to calling ourselves “followers of Jesus” – we really need to take that to heart. Everywhere you go, every word you speak, every interaction you have- is to represent him. There’s a scripture in the bible that actually says that we are “ambassadors” for God. We are his representatives. So, when you’re out and you are interacting with others – who are you representing?