Last afternoon/evening was spent in the company of Indranil and Stephanie at the Barista on Park Street. There's nothing much to be said about the outlet except that they should have a method to control the stuffiness of the place if they don't want to switch on the air-conditioning. The excuse that all the ceiling fans are linked to a single switch and hence would cause discomfort just doesn't translate to a good design. The music was loud but at least it allowed a semblance of polite conversation. That was good enough.

What I did find alienating was the behavior of the floor staff of Westside at 22 Camac Street. An elderly gentleman was looking at the rack of jackets. You know the ones with the patch at the elbows. And, turns out that the ones they had on display had some issues with a proper fit or, fall. The on floor staff, when asked to check up the stock for a different size were impudent enough to say that they would actually do so if he was planning to purchase. I don't know the entire history of the interaction between the staff and this gentleman. But sure as hell this isn't a way to treat a customer. Not only do you end up pissing off the immediate customer, you end up creating a bad impression with the customers around and within an ear-shot of this incident. Simply unacceptable and ridiculous.

This inability to read a customer is something I've noticed at the Barista outlet too. The staff was ready to hustle me out of the shop till the time I had to mention that I was expecting company and, they better have some sense to expect more custom. Compare that with the all mushy couple on the other wall (I don't have anything much against them save the heavy PDA within a glass fronted showroom during afternoon) sharing a smoothie for half an hour. Either they regularly share a smoothie and are as permanent as furniture or, the staff were enjoying the show.

There ought to be a better way to train the floor personnel.