PITTSBURGH—Sam Heck, the barista working at Starbucks on Thursday afternoon, looked forlorn, and for good reason. Heck told reporters he was a bit underwhelmed with the response to his new band camp single, which he had gone to great lengths to play for the coffee shop patrons. In order to do so, Heck had to break protocol and add his psychobilly rock track to the Spotify playlist sent to his location from corporate. Tampering with any aspect of the atmosphere curated by branding officials is widely looked down upon amongst baristas and is punishable by a week stint of cleaning out the milk frother. So far, there is no evidence to suggest that any customer has noticed. One woman appeared to be tapping her foot along with the song. Unfortunately, when Heck decided to investigate by pretending to clean a nearby table, he found the patron had Airpods in. The lack of return on his risky behavior is understandably disappointing for Heck, who told reporters he planned on continuing this practice until a customer tells him they like the song and asks who the artist is, or until his manager catches him.
Written by Ella Hickman, Contributor