Not Unappreciated, But Unexpected

Barista Love

So about a week ago, I came face to face with one of the most generous human beings I have ever met. Her name is Shaunee (forgive me if I spelled it incorrectly.) She is an employee at the Flour Garden Bakery, off of Brunswick in Grass Valley. 

ANYWAYS... here's the story. My friend called me from work in an act of desperation, saying she was about to go INSANE and needed coffee, STAT! She said she wanted fresh coffee if available, otherwise just grab a hot mocha and deliver that shit quickly. I arrived at the cafe in about a minute and I ran over to the counter with haste. I asked politely if the coffee was fresh or if it was static and old. She told me that it was pretty stagnant but if I wanted to wait she could brew a fresh pot of anything I wanted. I told her it was no big deal and I would just take a sixteen oz. mocha.

This is when she kicked it up a notch. It was like she manifested into an angel before my childish eyes. 

She asked if I wanted white or dark chocolate. "Dark," I answered politely. She then did a slow turn over her left shoulder and asked, slowly, if I would like an extra special mocha. I was so intrigued and I just had to ask; "what is a special mocha?" She said "it's white and dark chocolate mixed, with a tower of whipped cream and fresh cocoa powder on top." I said... "HELL YES! That sounds amazing; No whipped cream though please." She turned around, once again, and said... "NO WHIPPED CREAM, REALLY?" She then told us that it was her favorite phase of the coffee making and we wouldn't regret it if we allowed her to bless us with the fluffy white substance. She then asked us if she could up the size of the drink... ON THE HOUSE! At this point my mind was just blown and I told her that was it unnecessary; But, I would very much appreciate it. As she was just about to finish up the mocha, she told us that all of the baked goods were going to be marked down at the end of the night and anything we wanted off the shelf was only ninety nine cents! 

We flew to the shelf, grabbed six muffins, payed for the mocha and said our goodbyes. As we turned to leave, she grabbed a baguette and handed it to us for FREE! she said they were going to be thrown out anyways and she wanted US to enjoy it.

My heart broke. I took a deep breath, looked her in the face and said "Thank you. Thank you sooo much." She replied, "thank you for what?" "For being soooo... nice, I said" I told her that it's not very often that a total stranger will just do things like that. Nobody ever just gives you free food. I wanted to give her a huge hug but the coffee was already starting to get cold. Instead, I did what any person should at that point. I said thank you one last time, gave her an heart-felt High 5 and proceeded to deliver the epic mocha of awesomness to my friend! 

Shaunee made me so happy and all it took was a little acknowledgment (and some free upgrades.) But seriously; How often do you meet people like that anymore? I was once again reminded that some people actually do have souls and that some of them are not afraid to show it.