Defeating the purpose

Before I went to teach today, I stopped by the Second Cup in that building to get some coffee for class. When the barista was ready to take my order, I handed her my travel mug and asked for a small coffee.

Now the mug is a little bit bigger than a small, but it is not as big as a medium. Most coffee shop employees will either not quite fill the mug or just go ahead and give me the extra. I am fine with both. On the one hand, I recognize that giving me more than the exact 12 ounces eats into the profit margin; on the other, considering the amount of coffee and/or milk that actually translates to, it's not like giving out a free drink or not charging for soy milk. But the fact remains that the main reason I bring the mug comes from my desire to decrease my environmental impact. The little bit extra, even the 10-cent discount they usually give me, do not determine my action.

Nevertheless, I feel I must take exception with how things played out today. See if you can spot the problems:

• Barista takes my mug and sets it down on the counter.
• She picks up one of their small disposable cups.
• She fills this cup with coffee.
• She stops filling the cup when she gets to the point one might expect if ordering "a small coffee with lots of room."
• She pours the coffee into my mug.
• I assume this step since I couldn't see: She throws away cup used for measuring.

I got my discount and it's not even that I would have really wanted more coffee (it was obviously an old brewing), though some part of me was a little irked at her concern over giving me too much. But the whole point of the travel mug...

I didn't say anything. I know I should have. But I was dumbstruck by her process. And cutting it close to class time. Next time, though, next time I will definitely explain my frustration.