Starbucks barista used secret cup note to help young woman in her store

Unfortunately, some folks out there don’t have other people’s best interests at heart. Where young women are concerned, public spaces can be particularly fraught with unwanted attention.

In the UK, the Ask for Angela policy at bars — whereby a person who feels harassed by someone else in a bar or restaurant can discreetly ask for ‘Angela’ to alert staff about it — has seen limited success owing to shortfalls in training around the policy, but the intention, at least, is to make public spaces safer for women.

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An example of a US worker’s diligence around her customers’ safety shows that there’s merit to this kind of policy.

Detailing the incident on Facebook, Brandy Selim Roberson explained that her 18-year-old daughter had been studying alone at a Starbucks branch in Corpus Christi, Texas, when she was approached by man who was behaving strangely.

It happened while her 18-year-old had been studying alone, when a man entered the coffee shop and started behaving strangely.

As it was the evening, staff were concerned about the high school student as the man became loud and animated, and acted quickly to let her know that help was close-by.

Under the guise of serving her a drink that “someone forgot to pick up”, a female barista wrote a note on the cup before handing it to the teenager.

The note read: “Are you okay? Do you want us to intervene? If you do, take the lid off the cup.”

Upon seeing the note, the student looked over to the counter to see “a row of baristas staring at her — ready to step in” according to her mum’s Facebook post.

While she didn’t take them up on the offer, their attentiveness was reassuring to both her and her mother.

Roberson told The New York Post: “This reaffirms my faith in humanity.

"Maybe just seeing this story, others... if given the opportunity to say something or turn away, they would say something."

The post went viral, with many commenters quick to praise the staff’s approach once the story was shared on X page ‘Call to Activism’.

“In today’s society more people should be proactive like this,” wrote one user. “You just never know what a situation really is. Kudos to the alert Starbucks staff. Never be silent and always ask.”

“As a parent, this story shook me to the core, but also gave me hope that there’s still some humanity out there,” said another X commenter.

WKYC, a US news station, confirmed the story with Starbucks.

The Starbucks worker's note - Call to Activism via X

There are other examples of service workers intervening in similar situations.

In 2021, a bartender in Florida found viral fame after she passed a similar note to two women who were drinking in her bar.

Disguising the note as a receipt, the bartender felt compelled to act when she saw them getting unwanted attention from a male customer.

It said: “If this guy is bothering you, put your ponytail on your other shoulder, and I will have him removed. He’s giving me the creeps.”

We can only hope that we’ll reach a place in society where women can feel safe and secure in public spaces, but until then it’s reassuring to know that there are people out there who have their backs.