For some customers, Starbucks’ very particular lexicon is a source of anxiety and possibly even anger. But it wasn’t having to order a “venti” or a “tall” that drove a NYC college professor into an argument at a Manhattan Starbucks over the weekend. Instead, it was her refusal to tell an employee what she didn’t want on her bagel.

“I just wanted a multigrain bagel,” the woman told The NY 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.”

According to the professor, she was then told she wouldn’t get anything at all unless she specified that she wanted neither butter nor cheese on her bagel.

“I yelled, ‘I want my multigrain bagel!'” she said. “The barista said, ‘You’re not going to get anything unless you say butter or cheese!'”

The debate escalated to the point where the manager contacted the police. The professor says the officers told her they would have to arrest her if she refused to leave.

The Post also spoke to a Starbucks employee who witnessed the incident. “She would not answer. It was a reasonable question,” the worker said. “She called [the barista] an a–hole.”

Could this situation have been resolved better by the employee and manager? Was the professor just causing a scene? Would you like butter or cheese on that?

Venti-size fury [NY Post]

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