Next door to the building where I go to school, there is a coffee shop. It is very popular, and has even won awards. However, maybe because they have a sort of "captive" audience (no other coffee shops in the vicinity), they seem to be able to get away with bad service without losing any customers. They have a college and a newspaper office on one side, a bank on the other side, and are located in a building that houses a senior's residence (apartments, not a nursing home.) So all the people from the school, the newspaper, the bank, etc., go there to get coffee and snacks.
One morning before class I go in to get coffee. First problem: their in-store music (provided by a boom box) is so loud I can't hear myself think, let alone hear the counter person take my order. But that would have been assuming I could even get to the counter. I put my hands over my ears both to block out the assault on my hearing and to hopefully give the staff a hint that the music is too loud, but am ignored.
The customer who is being served is having a chat with the cashier. She did order something, but instead of going down to the end of the counter to pick it up, she stands at the cash register and has a chat with the cashier about her recent holiday. Apparently the cashier went to the same destination recently, and they are comparing their experiences.
Meanwhile, a lineup is forming.
Cashier continues to chat with customer (isn't her coffee getting cold by now?) and continues to ignore the lineup.
There are three other people behind the counter who are just standing around doing, apparently, nothing.
Chat, chat, chat. The lineup now stretches quite literally out the door. Nobody makes a move to serve any of the customers who are waiting.
I left because I would have been late to class if I'd kept waiting.