This morning, at a coffee stand inside the Terminal del Norte bus station in Mexico City:
Me: I’d like a cafe americano with milk, please.
Young woman: We don’t sell an americano with milk. You can get a black coffee or a cappuccino.
Me: Can’t I just get a small amount of milk in my coffee?
YW: No.
Me: What if I paid extra? It’s only a very small amount of milk that I want.
YW: We don’t sell americanos with milk.
Me: What if I paid for a cappuccino? And you could give me an americano with just a little milk in it? Then I would be paying for extra milk, because I want less than you put in a cappuccino.
*She looks at me doubtfully.*
Me: So I would be paying you more money. You would win.
YW: That’ll be 21 pesos. *(Yelling to her compañera)* She wants an americano with milk.
***
A few minutes later, I watch as the barista adds exactly one-half cup of milk to my coffee, the same amount she used in other customers’ cappuccinos.
So much for wanting, as I told the girl in Spanish, “un chorrito de leche, nada más.”
Oh my god Lesley, you sure made me laugh this morning!
I had a whole scene going in my head at the Terminal del Norte.
Que tengas un lindo fin de semana!
Thanks Paola!
Jaja a mi también me hiciste reír! No sabían que eran tan ortodoxos en México a la hora de servir café. Casi casi italianos. Un abrazo
This story made me laugh Lesley. So maybe next time you might just tell the barista “no me lo llene para que le ponga un chorrito de leche por favor” You know Mexican style “un poquito nada más”.
How long will you be in Mexico? Did Crayton come with you or he stayed in NY?
William, I’m here for a week. Crayton stayed home — he had to work. Hoping to bring him with me next time!
Ha, I guess that barista attitude transcends any language or cultural barriers. 😛
Alfonso: Indeed. Ah, the mini power-struggles that happen daily in Mexico.
Maybe in one of the old established cafeterias in the historic center you would have been heard. Or if you’d ordered a cortado(don’t remember if it is only expresso or Americano size too, you’d have been served coffee with milk foam on top.
Maybe your barrista is still talking about the weird gringa she served.
Lesley,
I recognize this young woman. She was the waitress in the movie, “Five Easy Pieces”, who told Jack Nicholson he could not order plain toast, so he ordered a chicken salad sandwich on wheat toast, no mayonnaise, no butter, no lettuce, and hold the chicken.
Once a gringa, always a gringa. A su salud!
I can really relate to this! Why is it so hard to get a coffee with some milk in it?! I second what Rochelle said — try for an americano cortado or pintado next time and see what happens.
Bad luck, most of Mexican baristas are friendly and nice, especially with foreigners
Reminds me of the movie “five easy pieces”. hat a hoot. Let me know when you want to get together in NYC….
I love reading your blog. Satisfies my sweet tooth for the motherland 🙂 Thanks for making me laugh this morning!
*I totally pictured the whole situation in my mind, you holding a newspaper and everything*
Stef
I have been living in Costa Rica for 17 years, but am originally from the US. Years ago I asked a waiter for ice to go in my beer. Drinking beer over ice is commonplace here and in Hawaii where I also lived for many years, so please refrain from shuddering or commenting. Anyhow, I asked the waiter for ice at least 3 times and never got it. So I finally got up, followed him behind the service counter and asked what the problem was. His response was that everybody knows that gringos don’t drink beer with ice.
This made me smile. While I’ve never had this EXACT experience, living as an expat in Prague and Germany I’ve had my fair share of trying and trying to explain what I want then getting something completely different. My biggest thing is ice–I like having ice in my Coke, but it’s not really a “thing” here. When I ask for ice, I usually just get the one lonely cube floating around in my otherwise lukewarm drink lol