When college English professor Lynne Rosenthal went to an Upper West Side location Starbucks, all she wanted was a bagel.  Specifically, a multigrain bagel served without butter or cheese.  However, when a Starbucks employee asked her if she wanted butter or cheese, she refused to answer, reiterating that she wanted a multigrain bagel.  In her mind, that was the complete order; if she wanted butter or cheese, she would have said.  In the mind of the Starbucks employee, if she wanted her bagel plain, she had to ask for it plain.  Professor Rosenthal was thrown out of the Manhattan Starbucks and threatened with arrest over her refusal to specify her bagel toppings.

I just wanted a multigrain bagel,” Rosenthal told The New York Post.  “I refused to say ‘without butter or cheese.’ When you go to Burger King, you don’t have to list the six things you don’t want.  Linguistically, it’s stupid, and I’m a stickler for correct English.”  She also refuses to use Starbucks corporate slang when it comes to the size of her latte, using the standard large/small versus venti/grande/tall.

It’s a bit of a tempest in a teapot, really.  I can understand Rosenthal’s refusal, but I also realize that the Starbucks employee is probably mandated to ask what sort of bagel toppings are wanted and that Rosenthal was just looking to pick a fight.  I think I’ll sit this conflict out; she deserved to be thrown out and the barista should’ve just given her the plain bagel.

Tags: Starbucks, English professor, professor arrested at Starbucks, Lynne Rosenthal, New York City, New York, Upper West Side, Manhattan, grammar, English language, unusual criminals, law and order

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