Alright gang. Are you ready to hear a story of comedy? Of tension? Of humility? Here you go. Let’s make this quick, my cheeks are burning red.
After checking out the well-arranged Japanese American History Museum today in Little Tokyo I decided take a walk down the street to find a cafe to do some writing. As I walk past lines of sushi places with dusty signs advertising sake brands and all-you-can eat deals, I begin to silently loose hope. This is Little Tokyo after all. I suppose I should be thankful for the lack of Coffee Beans and Starbucks in this area. It is a rarity in this city.
To my right, a blast of color invades my feild of vision. A cafe with colorfully-painted walls is there, the sign on the outside reads “I Love Boba”.
Not sure what to expect, I decide to take a look. As I enter, a small group of Japanese teenagers stir at the far end of the counter.
“Do you have wifi?” I ask, the suspected answer already in my mind.
“Yes we do” a tall lanky boy says to me in a nearly perfect american accent.
Surprised, I look for the next item on my mental checklist: Outlets. I see one unoccupied, and a table near enough to stretch my laptop’s power cord between.
“Okay…I’ll take…ummm…” this is where I do the “classic starbucks stare”. This stare (as coined by yours truly) is what a barista at starbucks is forced to look at ALL DAY. When performing this stare, the customer tilts their head upward to view the menu above while creating an utteral “ummm…” sound in their throat. “I’ll have a Cherry Boba smoothie” I finish, without really having any idea what I was ordering.
It did say smoothie, so it must be some derivative of what I am used to – I think.
I set up my laptop and get settled. Within a few moments, my drink is delivered to the “pick up” counter by a quiet girl, who shakes it as she hands me the drink. Little pieces of…something float around inside a bright-pink icy liquid. The top is sealed by a vaccum-tight round piece of plastic, matching the circumference of the container’s top.
I marvel for a moment at this unique touch (or so I think), and begin peeling the plastic seal from the cup.
Two minutes later, I have gotten nowhere. The top is still on the cup, and doesn’t appear to be planning on letting go. I have tried tugging, pushing, peeling, and using my teeth – to no avail. What the hell…
Another customer receives his smoothy, as he rounds the corner of the counter I see he has a straw sticking into the cup, piercing THROUGH the plastic covering. Recognition dawns and I jump up to retreive a straw.
I return to my table and eagerly attempt to peirce the plastic with the rounded edge of the straw…again to no avail.
Hmm…
I push harder…nothing…harder…*CRACK*
I feel a sudden feeling of wetness in my crotch: the cup had completely exploded from the pressure.
Shocked and embarrased, I look around and marvel at the fact no one has even noticed or looked his way since hearing the crack. This is good, gives me a time to think before the looks of symphathetic “glad it isn’t me”ism begin.
I rise from the table and notice that the bright pink, sticky liquid has covered the floor around my feet. I feel cold as wet smoothie-juice penetrate the ultralight fabrics of my clothing.
I grab a napkin and begin to wipe my chair off. I half-whisper to the lanky wifi boy that the cup had broken and, though it was entirely my fault, was covering everything I had touched in the past ten minutes.
With a good-natured look, he tells me its ok and begins to mop up the sticky liquid, spreading quickly on the floorboards. He even makes me another one…I am assuming he wanted me to feel better (or maybe he just wanted to have a chance to educate me on the proper procedure).
This time, he demonstrated the insertion of the straw VERY carefully. He illustrates the benefits of a “light tap” technique versus an intensley pressured one.
Humbly…I sit back down and begin my work. No harm done…I don’t think.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
That looks a lot like a bubble tea
@Dillan – Ahah! That must have been what it was!
But…ummmm…what is bubble tea?
Bubble tea and boba are the same thing- a liquid (usually milk based) with tapioca balls in it. Boba is a slang word, of which you can discover the meaning of on your own =P I’m glad to see you enjoyed it, although I wish your first experience had been a bit dryer.
awwww…. poor little bean. I liked hearing about this story on the phone, but in written form it was more detailed. I love you, not matter how challenged you are.
hahahah sucks but funny