Role Playing

Being a customer at a coffee shop is a common rhetorical situation people find themselves in, and one in which they must play a role. The exigencies of this role commonly include knowing what you want to order, going up to the counter and ordering your drink with the name of the drink, size, and deciding if you want it iced or hot. After this you tell the barista your name, pay, and then walk to the other counter to wait for your drink to be called. It is also expected that you take your drink and your drink only, in order to avoid grabbing the wrong drink so somebody else doesn't get theirs.

If you perform all of these functions, you are the playing the role correctly, and as long as you do this, you can ad-lib some parts. You don't have to know what drink you want, you could just randomly pick one off the menu. You can get creative with your name and tell them whatever you want. The decorum of the coffee shop does a play a role in how far you go with your own role playing. Most coffee shops have a very laid back type of feeling, so if you are in a Starbucks you could be conducting a business meeting, doing homework, reading a book, or meeting with a friend to catch up. Most coffee shops typically have kids in them, so it is important to keep things family-friendly, and stay mellow. If someone is yelling in a coffee shop that could be really distracting to the others in the coffee shop who went there for a quiet environment.

Your role in the situation serves the purpose of keeping the coffee shop in business. Without customers coming to order and spend their money, coffee shops wouldn't have the profit to stay open. The customer also serves to create the vibes going on in the coffee shop, for example, if everyone is yelling, it is probably not a very calm coffee shop where people want to do business or homework. However, if everyone is being really quiet, it creates a place of relaxation and great for working.