Caffeinated Literacy Essay

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Caffeinated Literacy On a weekly, if not daily, basis I am one of millions who have to visit a coffee shop throughout the day. It’s something about the aromatics of the coffee beans in the air and the sounds of the steamer steaming milk and the metal cups clanking together that make the experience complete. But that experience wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for the smiling faces of the baristas. Spending most mornings and some afternoons getting my daily dose of caffeine in at the coffee shop I began to people watch. The people I was watching weren’t the customers but the baristas. How do they do the magic that they do? They make it seem so effortless. Almost as if there is no thought process to it. Let’s be honest, there is more than one reason we all go to the coffee shops every day, and it’s not because it’s more convenient to have someone else make our drinks. It’s because we all have tried to mimic what they do and fail miserably at it. The drinks just always seem to miss something when you try to mimic them at home. It’s all because it is almost scientific the way they interpret the request and combine the ingredients to make the perfect concoction. One day I observed the baristas at my local Starbucks. Upon entering I was greeted by a smiling face. I was …show more content…

One person in line ordered a Grande Skinny Chai Tea Latte with an extra pump. This is clearly a language of its own, one that is not taught in a 4 year school, but obtained by baristas and customers in a coffee shop. Most can figure out what a Chai Tea Latte is, but what is skinny? What is an extra pump, and an extra pump of what exactly? Intrigued I had to know, so off to the baristas I was again. “What does skinny mean,” I asked. “Skinny means a drink with skim milk. Get it? Skinny, as in no fat” he stated. It was like a second language, or coffee shop slang that you only can learn if you hang out in coffee

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