sass and cappuccinos

there exists a fine line between friendly banter and outright rudeness. i tend to straddle the two worlds fairly seamlessly, reserving the bitching for behind closed doors. however, i would love to be able to tell jerks-asses to their faces just how awful they are.

the real sticky-wicket, however, is what i call "taming the shrew" (a.k.a. taming down my personality to better relate to more difficult customers). why do i find this problematic? well, first of all, i hate feeling like i have to stifle myself/hide my true colours just to appease others. second, i tend to come across then, as a push-over. third, repressing my personality tends to quickly become a major bad-mood inducer. which then turns me into a buzzkill bitch.

also, i believe i may have mentioned this before ( in fact--i have! see : quandry/ conuundrum of same-aged "regulars") but it's become a more technologically intertwined world since march 2009 and i am finding that more and more regulars are "friending" me on facebook. and i'm friends with my employers. and my co-workers. and trying to keep it all straight and neat and tidy and unoffensive is really fucking difficult. the solution i've come up with so far is aside from one or two exceptions, most have landed on a separate, stream-lined feed that prevents such tangles. but what about those few i truly like? and wish to get to know better?and find intelligent and intriguing and beguiling, amusing, etc.???

unhappy barista chick

barista chick is very unhappy.
store policies make her unhappy.
bad management makes her unhappy.
hiring new (albeit awesome) people when everyone wants more hours, makes her unhappy.
not-full-time makes her unhappy.
regular customers unhappy makes her unhappy.
regular customers becoming IRREGULAR makes her unhappy.
regular customers going away makes her unhappy.
sad co-workers make her unhappy.
poor communication makes her unhappy.
charging extra for organic milk makes her unhappy.
not-so-hidden political agendas make her unhappy.
no breaks make her unhappy.
no vacation in sight makes her unhappy.

what will make her happy again??

quandry/ conuundrum of same-aged "regulars"

there exists, a fine line, between being friendly with customers and being friends.  i often wonder when/if it's okay to become friends with customers of the same age. seeing as that work is all i do (not in school, haven't embraced any pastimes of social relevance) the most i interact with people in my age group is...well...at work. making their coffee, grabbing a pastry. maybe chatting up some new album or movie or asking about what they are working on. but can it ever be more than that? or is that awkward?

how does one go about befriending a "regular"? does it come off as stalker-esque? do they even WANT to be my friend? does it seem like i'm flirting? desperate? lame???

i think the worst aspect though, are the regulars still in school or working real jobs. then i just feel inadequate in comparison--"look at me! i work at a cafe for a living! wanna hang out?"

argh! is it simpler than that? or is it just a sad consequence of working a service job that friendships with customers are just plain out of the question???