Jan. 1, 2026

Episode 5: "Do You Know Who I Am?" - When Customers Think Their Job Title Matters

In this episode, I'm talking about a customer who tried to flex their job title and "important position" to get what they wanted — a limited-edition Bearista cup from Starbucks. We're diving into the weird phenomenon of customers who genuinely believe their résumé should override store policies, inventory limits, and basic reality. From casual name-dropping to thinly veiled threats to full-blown "Do you know who I am?" moments, this episode breaks down why some people think their authority at...

Show Notes
Transcript

In this episode, I'm talking about a customer who tried to flex their job title and "important position" to get what they wanted — a limited-edition Bearista cup from Starbucks.

We're diving into the weird phenomenon of customers who genuinely believe their résumé should override store policies, inventory limits, and basic reality. From casual name-dropping to thinly veiled threats to full-blown "Do you know who I am?" moments, this episode breaks down why some people think their authority at work magically transfers to coffee shops and the people working there.

It's a story about entitlement, misplaced power dynamics, and the absurd comedy of watching someone completely unravel because a novelty cup doesn't care about their LinkedIn profile.

In this episode:

The psychology behind "Do you know who I am?" customers
Why job titles don't mean anything in retail and food service
How entitlement shows up in the strangest ways
The art of staying professional when someone's pulling rank over a coffee cup

If you've ever had a customer try to intimidate you with their credentials, you're going to relate hard to this one.

Perfect for current and former service workers, anyone who's dealt with entitled customers, or people who need a reminder that everyone deserves basic respect — regardless of job title.

Don't forget to tip your favorite waitress! Click on the link to help out the podcast: https://buymeacoffee.com/bitterwaitress

WEBVTT

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Hi, I'm Yasmin and I'll be your server today.

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I'm a full-time waitress at a casual dining restaurant.

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I'm on foot for 10 hours a day, and I serve hundreds of customers each week.

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And these are my customer service stories.

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Hey everyone, thank you for joining me today.

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I have a really fun episode for you because we're going to be talking about Starbucks.

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And this is, I think, where the most fun customer service horror stories come from.

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If you're a barista, I love you, I feel for you, I'm sending hugs out to you because I'm sure you have a lot of great stories.

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Um, I heard one from my mom that I just had to tell everybody today.

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Um, it is she is actually a manager of operations, um, uh, and she rolls out these Starbucks.

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So she's not a barista, she's not client-facing all the time, but you know, she does train the baristas, and so she does face with the clients from time to time.

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And um, obviously, because you know, she's a manager, she's the one that's gonna get all the fun complaints.

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So she's got a lot of real goodies.

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Um, this one that I'm about to tell you is from the holiday season because there was this really interesting cup that they released, it was called the berista, ha ha ha, pun intended.

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So it's shaped like a bear, it's this glass cup, it's got a little um green beanie on it, um, and it's got a straw.

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And what's cool about the bear is that it's because it's glass, um, if you put like a cold beverage in it, like let's say you do um a cold coffee and you put the coffee in it and the cream, like you can you can see the gradient, so it's got um an interesting sort of aesthetic to it, and it was just for some reason like all the rage, and I don't know why, but apparently, like you know, only a few of them came out, like it's really, really rare.

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Like these, okay, okay, listen to me.

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These bears, when my mom told me, I'm like, this is like utter insanity.

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So these bears went viral, they went viral, guys.

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Like, people were desperately like trying to find them.

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They were um people would buy them who who found them and are reselling them for like$500 on eBay.

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Like it is sick.

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Like, I don't know what is what is going on with the human race where some like little bear-shaped cup is just like all the rage and people are like marking it up, like oh my god, why?

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Why just if somebody wants it that bad, just like sell it to them for regular price.

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Why, why do you have to like like imagine if somebody's kid wants it?

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Like, they're just gonna give you half their savings just to buy this cup.

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I don't, I don't know, I don't know.

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I don't know.

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I feel so bad for the barises because I'm sure that that many of them have horror stories on people trying to find these cups.

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Uh, but anyway, so this this story is about this cup because my mom has her own horror story about it, and so um she got a call from this lady um who wanted to complain because she apparently this customer went to the Starbucks at five in the morning.

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Oh my god, that just that makes me that makes me tired just thinking about it.

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Five in the morning to buy this for her daughter, and they were just like they were sold out.

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But the problem was like as soon as they would bring these things in, like they were just selling it so quickly, like they couldn't, and they they weren't even getting enough stock of it, like it was so so rare.

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And I don't know why Starbucks did that.

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I think that was like just really mean of Starbucks.

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I mean the customers are clearly interested in this product, and they've manufactured so few of them, they've caused there's this huge hype around it, nobody can get their hands on it, and just all the workers are getting shit for it.

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So that's like oh my god, I just I feel so bad for the workers anyway.

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So this lady's yelling at my mom that she got there at 5 a.m.

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and the barista had sold the cup the day before, and it was not meant to be released the day before, but I mean someone came and got it, and the barista didn't know it wasn't their fault.

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And so the interesting point about the story is not that people are going cuckoo for like these little bears, these bear cups, it's that so the lady tries to pull this card on my mom.

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She's like, Oh, but I'm I'm a professor of English.

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I'm like, who cares if you're the a professor?

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No one gives a shit what you do for a living lady.

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Like, so you're just you're gonna give my mom a hard time because Starbucks didn't manufacture enough of these stupid cups, and what, like, you're the smartest person on the face of the planet, but and yet you couldn't get your hands on this bear, so your your your ego is crushed.

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Like, what is the point of this?

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And it reminded me of my um a family member who is has their doctorate in like computing, computer science, computing, like that, that area, and he was calling um, I think it was like future shop to complain about something because they had purchased something, it wasn't the right thing, they were on their way to the airport, and I I don't know exactly what the story was, but he was calling to complain, and he tried to pull that card too, and he was like, This is Dr.

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So-and-so, like trying to establish his superiority over whoever he's talking to on the other end, and then his wife, I love his wife, his wife got really mad at him.

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She's like, What are you doing?

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Nobody cares, nobody cares.

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And I mean, she's got she's got her doctorate too.

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She's a really smart lady, but she's like way super humble, you know what I mean?

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Like, easy to talk to, very friendly.

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So it was just is hysterical because this woman on the phone is trying to play this card with my mom, and she's just like, I can't do anything.

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Like, there is literally nothing I can do.

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I can't order anything for you.

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That was limited.

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It was while quantities last, you know, the decision is on Starbucks head office, like it has nothing to do with like I just lady, I just work here, you know.

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But obviously, my mom does it.

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My mom's a very, very nice person, a very professional.

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She's like, you know, if it comes in, I'll let you know, blah blah blah, like the whole customer service spiel.

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And I just my my whole thing is I don't know why people do that.

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I don't know why people think that by telling us their professions that is gonna make us what feel less than.

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It's gonna, oh okay, now I have to bow down to you and just whatever you want, I'll give to you.

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It just it's so stupid and it just really just irks my chain.

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I can't, I can't understand it.

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I can't wrap my head around it, it doesn't make you better as a person, it doesn't get you what you want faster.

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If something isn't fair, it's not fair.

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I'm sorry.

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Like, you know, there sometimes there life is unfair.

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Life is unfair, but just because you have a doctorate in English or computer science or whatever doesn't make you get what you want faster.

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It doesn't work, it doesn't work.

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So if you're a customer listening to this and you've tried to pull that on someone, I'm sorry.

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It does not work.

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So just get over yourself, get over yourself.

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Just because you spend all that money and you're going through and getting all this education, it does not make you better than other people.

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So, I mean, for all my for all my customer service people, my servers, my bartenders, you know what?

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Screw those people.

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Like, nobody is better, you know.

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We are all human beings, we're all equal, we're all, you know, just trying to pay our bills and live a happy life, and you know, and just you know, live, exist, exist in this world with each other.

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So be good to each other.

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Like it doesn't matter what you do for a living, anyway.

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And if you are one of those lucky people that got this Starbucks Barista bear, how in the world?

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Like you must have been the lucky few, the lucky, lucky few.

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I'm just curious if any of you guys listening, anybody, please put it in the comments.

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Tell me, tell me if you found this bear, where you found this bear.

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It's incredible, it's incredible the lengths that people are are going to to buy the barista bear.

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Anyway, that's my special little uh hats off to Starbucks, all my baristas out there, keep doing what you're doing, keep keep feeding people caffeine and coffee, it makes them happy when they're happy.

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You know, we're all happy.

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Um I love you all.

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Thank you so much for listening.

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Um, it would help me so much if you would follow the podcast, leave some reviews, put it in the comments.

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Have you ever had that card pulled on you?

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The the uh this is what I do for a living card.

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I would love to hear those stories as well.

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Um, otherwise, you know what?

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I'll see you guys in the next episode.

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This is your favorite bit or waitress signing off.