The Juggler at the Coffee Counter

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That's how I see the guy behind the coffee counter in my office cafeteria.

1 coffee!!!!
2 tea without sugar!!!
1 Badam Milk!!!
1 coffee strong!!!
3 coffees, 2 teas, 1 badam milk!!!
4 coffees -one without sugar, one strong, 3 teas, 1 badam milk, 1 Boost!!!

One of these orders was ours. We were paying cash, some were paying the vendor's coupons, some others were paying sodexho passes. And none of us were tendering exact change.

The guy at the coffee counter is a super-quick juggler, I must say. You should see the speed at which all these orders were processed.

  • The change for each payment were given out correctly.
  • Coffee or tea or badam milk... you got what you asked for with the right specification without having to repeat your order.
  • Everyone seemed to get their orders immediately. The wait time is almost negligible.
In the three minutes that I stood there today, I noticed how swiftly his hands worked on filling up the coffee ( strong or light ), adding milk ( with or without sugar) and then attending to tea and badam milk and boost requests; all in a quick sequence and closing the cash/coupon/pass transaction too...

The requests kept flowing in and this person was working on each of them with the same speed and cheer and order. There was a complete harmony between the mind, the hand and the cheer on his face.

This is truly an art that only a very few people can manage to when under extreme work load. This guy reminded me of a juggler for some reason.. either the cheer or the quick juggle of things to do at hand, or the multi-tasking ability.. dont know which one caught my eye and attention, but all I can say is, however routine the job is, how much ever used-to he can be with his routine, it truly takes an attitude to keep up the efficiency with a harmony that he only can explain.

There is a lot to learn from this juggler at the coffee counter. We all have a chance to work in better work profiles and environments, but do we do our job as good as this guy? Think about it.

Comments

Priya H said…
Ya, we might look down on people doing low profile jobs. But most of them have a lot to teach us....planning, managing, etc.
8:31 PM
Musing Gal said…
Also it is true in India not in US, here if i give orders like that ot a coffee shop guy he will blink and ask me a atleast 3 times to repeata dn will still make a mistake :)
I have always wondered how ppl in India like this coffee guy, the vegetable wallah, the waiter in the restaurant etc., manage this.
1:11 AM
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