So, here’s the scenario: a customer gets less-than-stellar service, including a condescending lecture about why they don’t serve iced espresso at a local coffee establishment. Said customer writes a scathing blog entry about it, replete with a photo of the obscenity-laced tip he left behind. Coffee establishment responds with a blog entry of its own, but instead of rising above the customer’s lapse in judgment sinks to his level. (And for a local business that’s seen its share of bad press this year thanks to a tax problem in D.C., that was certainly not a smart move.)

The whole ordeal makes the rounds on MetaFilter and Boing Boing; I expect that it’ll make either Consumerist, Not Always Right or both in due time.

My feelings toward the shop in general were always rather tepid, but seeing three sides to this exchange made them — well — murky.

The point is that the barista missed two opportunities here. First, to properly educate the customer on why they wouldn’t serve him an iced espresso; saying something like “that’s not okay” is the wrong response. So is saying “it’s store policy” without further explanation. The other opportunity? To offer an alternative that would be just as satisfactory.

Within the circle of blogs and journals I keep up with, a lot of people are lately getting themselves lathered up over two things: Bear411 and Snickergate.

Bear411

For my readers (all three of you) outside the bear contingent, Bear411 — 411 for short — is arguably the most widely used site for chat/hookups/whatever among husky, hirsute gay men and (a few of) those that admire them. For some time, rumours circulated about the owner’s tendency to censor or even delete messages and profiles, and about people being denied access outright because they’re not “bear enough.” Things finally came to a head last week and now there are organized efforts to show the man how much his service sucks.

I’m all for fighting for your right to party, but really, why wait? If you hate 411 that much, just dump it from your bookmarks and be done with it already. This isn’t a city street where you need a permit to march — it’s a frickin’ web site!

Snickergate

At the outset, I wasn’t outright offended by the unfortunate Snickers ad. Truth be told, I kinda rolled my eyes at it, and winced when it came to ripping out chest hair. (A natural reaction as the owner of a hairy chest.) Yes, it used an old, lame ass joke at the expense of gay guys everywhere to promote itself, but a lot of the reaction I’ve seen — to the ad and to others reacting to the ad — is really quite overreaching.

Say what you will, but that campaign was probably worth every penny to Snickers and its parent company, even if they quietly removed the ads from their site. There’s big bucks in controversy.

Doth we protest too much?

So I flip through my referrer stats tonight, when who turns up in them? Jerwin, of course!

What? You expecting Cynthia Hollander? Hmmm?