Fun With Espresso and Ice
The espresso war is raging in Arlington. This guy can’t show his face at Murky anymore. I guess I can understand wanting coffee the way you want it — but sometimes you just don’t argue with the barista. So they don’t serve espresso on ice. So what? Do you really need to yell and scream at the under-paid student who makes your drink? Do you really need to leave this in the tip jar?
And really, what kind of dweeb throws a temper tantrum in a public place and then goes online to complain about how badly he was treated? His rant inspired threats from Murky’s owner, specifically:
“F*@k you, Jeff Simmermon. Considering your public threat of arson, you’ll understand when I say that if you ever show your face at my shop, I’ll punch you in your dick.”
15 Responses to “Fun With Espresso and Ice”
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July 17th, 2008 at 9:12 am
wow, angela. you’re a few days late to this party.
July 17th, 2008 at 10:02 am
“What kind of dweeb…. goes online to complain”.
Ummm… everyone? It’s practically in the constitution as our god-given right. Hell, it appears to be your job.
Are you really going to defend Mr. Murky? What kind of dumbass business owner actually validates that kind of criticism with a written response? If the customer is a dweeb, then the owner is a psychotic tool of the first order.
July 17th, 2008 at 11:54 am
you are correct, this guy is a moron.
But it is hard to feel sorry for Murky or have any respect for the owner.
What about the money owed to DC? Where the hell are all the taxes we paid to that asshole owner who fucked all of us over.
I guess he always had Arlington to run to…
July 17th, 2008 at 11:54 am
PS.
This City Paper…not Arlington City Paper.
July 17th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
You guys don’t have better news to report?
July 17th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I was with “that guy” when he purchased the first drink. He did not yell or scream, nor have anyone involved claimed that to be the case. And he is not a moron, for the record. He wanted to drink the espresso he purchased in a cup of ice (and not with a bunch of free milk from the counter.) So what? Instead of behaving in such a patronizing, condescending way and pretending that the issue was about coffee quality, maybe the barista should have informed him of the real reason for the policy or charged extra for the free milk that he feared Jeff would use. Jeff then blogged about the incident because it was amusing. If you would actually read his blog, he admitted that the dollar bill was over the top.
Apparently, this experience is about as universal as getting bad service at the DMV given the number of armchair commentators who have weighed in on his blog and others. I think you’re in the minority in believing that “you just don’t argue with the barista.” In my humble opinion, once you’ve purchased a legal substance, no one other than law enforcement has the right to instruct you in how to consume it. By the way, you might want to, I don’t know, read/conduct interviews/do research before commenting on someone you don’t know and on an incident that you didn’t witness.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
Once you’ve purchased a legal substance, no one other than law enforcement has the right to instruct you in how to consume it.
I agree, Mei-qi. Bagels are close to my soul, and it kills me to see people make them into pizza or slather peanut butter on on them. But hey. It’s THEIR RIGHT.
I, by the way, had a similar experience at Murky Coffee (minus the angry dollar bill incident). It was terrible, because like Jeff I really wanted to support independent coffee shops over Starbucks. But I never went back, and I was pleased when Murky Coffee was kicked out of Capitol Hill. (Although still concerned that the city has never received its money from the owner!)
Angela, sorry, but your blog item is way off base. Jeff’s rant was funny and self-deprecating and it doesn’t sound like he threw a “temper tantrum” at all (though I think he would have been justified!!). And who goes online to complain about stupid shit that happened to them in the course of an afternoon? Um, these days, just about everybody! Read a Facebook “status update” lately?
The blogger is obviously also embarrassed by the attention this has spawned — so much so that he wisely closed the comment section for this topic.
I think the Murky Coffee owner’s bizarre and violent comments — which by the way take Jeff’s blog wildly out of context — combined with the owner’s inability to pay his taxes, puts him and his shop in a very, very bad light. Murky coffee, shady business.
July 17th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
Cockpunching — it’s not just for Steven Seagal anymore.
July 17th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
Matt S. - the City paper is widely distributed and read in Arlington - so a story pertaining to Arlington is not off base. If all City paper stories remained within the District borders- there wouldnt be much to write about.
July 17th, 2008 at 3:32 pm
A chicken (preferably male), a blender, and a straw. Would you like that over ice?
July 18th, 2008 at 3:51 am
Sorry, Mr. Cho. Only taxpayers are allowed to punch people in the genitals.
For someone who describes himself as a people person (as Mr. Cho did in the March article in the Post about his tax evasion issues), Mr. Cho shows reckless disregard for the economic interests of his employees through his mismanagement and his very likely criminal mishandling of tax receipts. I’m all for letting small businesses thrive, but the market needs to shake out those who threaten customers and those who collect sales tax and then pocket the taxpayers’ money.
July 19th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
The man’s successful lifestyle complete with a good job and even dancing girlfriend is somewhat undermined in wayward coffeehouse.
July 19th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
What this douchebag failed to realize is he didn’t PAY for the ice. The barista had an opportunity there, to deny the ice, and missed it.
Also, I forget, is it a douchebag or a douchenozzle who commits the federal crime of defacing U.S. currency and then documents it on his own blog?
July 19th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Penis, you are as smart as penis can be.
July 20th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
“Defacing” money isn’t a crime in the US. I think you’re thinking of the UK, where I’m pretty sure you’re not allowed to deface images of the Queen (eg on money).