edit: it's the customers, as expected, but now I have a better picture of how they can slow things down this much.
i arrive to find two people in line
car at front: sits at window for 15 literal minutes. receives single drink
car after them: sits at window for 15 literal minutes, receives single drink
me: pulls up to window, places order, receives drink within 2 minutes
what could they possibly be doing up there? there can't be a beverage that takes 15 minutes to prepare, I would think, and it can't just be "they're busy" because then I would have to sit at the window for 15 minutes at least once in a while, but this has happened well over fifty times, and not once have I ever had to wait more than 2 minutes for my order, even if there's 10 people in line and only one person working. It has to be something these other patrons are doing to slow down the process, but I can't fathom what it could be.
may have some clarity on this. I was aware, of course, that people order drinks with 30 things in them, and I had no doubt that was stressful to prep, but I just couldn't figure out how you could fill 15 minutes doing it. I've never heard anyone actually give wall-clock figures on how long those actually take, only how irritating they are, and I couldn't figure out how the processes could add up.
by my math, fifteen minutes would require at least thirty operations at thirty seconds each. i could see how a trip through a blender or milk foaming could cost that much time, but that only accounts for a couple operations, where do the other 25 come from? those absurdly long drink tickets always seem to be mostly syrups and toppings, which should only require a couple seconds each, I would think.
@chirasul advises me, though, that those are capable of ballooning into much larger time sinks due to many things, including cross contamination control, which I had not considered. I have not worked food service but I have talked to many people who have, so I'm aware of the sheer amount of ones shift that is spent washing your hands. It didn't occur to me that that would apply to drink making as well, but of course, right?
It's also just tough to imagine that this is so consistently the cause of the problem unless pretty much everyone other than me orders these baroque things, but... it is a common complaint, so maybe that's just all there is to it: I'm the only person in seattle who just orders a mocha.
I notice this phenomenon at every joint im at, from Dicks to Taco Bell to every coffee shop. I am in and out in 30 seconds because I decide what to get immediately and dont ask for alternatives or anything complex. I just think other people are subconsciously incompetent at ordering things
