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Orange & Blue issue for Spring 2014 -- Energy
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edit: Barista Interview: Barnie's Coffee and Tea #54

Closed alichtenstein closed 2 years ago

alichtenstein commented 10 years ago

-Name: Kyle Hayes -Age: 20 -English major. "I write for The Fine Print. I just do usually one story per issue, sometimes two ... i usually pick my stories based on what seems like something I'd like to know more about because the meetings -- it's kind of like, people show up, pitch stories. I usually don't have a story pitch, but I'll see something and I'll decide that seems really cool. My first story was on tent city and the homeless people that have to live in the tent city because the shelter that the city promised they weren't building. And that was like a really cool first story to just kind of learn more about. I talked to like, a former prostitute who was homeless, and I talked to people with homeless coalitions. I've talked to politicians, and it was like a really cool intro to — like, I can, if I want to, learn so much more about something I didn't know anything about."

-How long have you worked here? Since January.  "Just a few months."

-Why Barnie's? What makes it different? "I really like the atmosphere. I've had a few jobs. I hadn't had a job before a year ago, but in the past year, this is my third job, and it's by far the best work environment. It's just very relaxed. And also, I'm obsessed with coffee, so it works that I work at a coffee shop."

-What’s your best part about working at Barnie's? "Honestly, the best part is that usually, like 9 times out of 10, I'm glad to be here and not wishing I was at home. With other jobs, I would just be like, "I don't want to be here right now." But with here, I don't mind it. We talk in the back and we just make coffee ... The drinks definitely don't hurt."

-What’s the worst part about working at Barnie's? "If I want to go to a party or something on the weekend, I'll be getting there at like 12:30 ... That's the worst part is that every time I work, I usually close when I work, so that means I'm getting off in the middle of the night."

-It’s a customer’s first time. What do you recommend? "My new favorite drink is a London Fog, which is steamed milk, vanilla and just Earl Grey tea. That's something that's not our menu, and most people don't know about it.

-What’s the most popular drink? "Probably like a white mocha."

-When I’m hyped on coffee, I ___: "I pace in the back room."

-What’s a normal day like at Barnie's? "Normal day is like, I show up out of it, get some coffee and I'm like, 'Alright, ready to go.' ... Sometimes it's busy out here, sometimes it's not. But just make drinks slash chill in the back until 8:30, and that's when I start closing, chores and stuff. From then on till close, I'm pretty much busy the whole time."

-What’s the weirdest thing that has happened at Barnie's? "This woman just like spilled a drink and had me clean it up but didn't get up. So I was having to bend down right with her, and she just wasn't moving, wasn't doing anything. That was bizzare."

-Regulars vs. first-timers? "Yeah I'm starting to memorize drinks. We have the guy, Bender ... He comes here like every day and gets the same sugary drink. It's his own drink. It's called a Bender ... It's two pumps chocolate, one pump caramel, one pump hazlenut, one pump vanilla, I think, and then whipped cream and a caramel drizzle on top ... And there's espresso, but I don't know if you could even taste it with all that sugar."

-Is this your go-to coffee shop when you’re not working? "No ... I live right next to the Coffee Culture on Newberry, so that would be the place I usually go to ... Because it's so far, [most people] haven't been out here, but when they do come, they're, "Well, this is a really good study spot.' So if I needed to study, this would be a good place."

-If you had to describe this coffee shop in one word, what would it be? "Coffee ... or just like a relaxed place."

-What’s something most people don’t know about Barnie's? "Most people don't know that not every coffee shop uses grande, tall. ... Most people that don't come here don't know we serve beer and wine. That's a big part of at night, a lot of people come here for that. We have big jazz nights where a lot of people drink. Most people just assume it's coffee."