Be the easy customer at closing time
The last half hour of a shift is when tiny inconveniences decide whether someone gets home on time.
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Why it lands
Closing has a fixed sequence, and a customer who orders something requiring a machine that has been cleaned can add forty minutes for the whole team. Most people have no idea their reasonable request is the expensive one. Asking is not servility; it is the difference between a person getting the last bus and not, and it costs you a marginally worse coffee.
How
Ask what is easiest rather than what you want: “Is there anything you'd rather not make at this point?” Order quickly, pay contactless, and sit where they have not already stacked the chairs. Leave before the doors are locked.
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