Now What?! A splash of love

A few months ago, I unknowingly began a social experiment. How would different Starbucks baristas react when I ask to have love added to my Starbucks order?

During a quick trip through the drive-thru at Starbucks with my fella, I wanted to make him smile. After I gave my four-part specialized drink order, I asked if I could add in a ‘splash of love.’ After a pause, the woman on the other end responded, ‘No problem, anything else?’

Thus began an ongoing social experiment of how folks would respond.

It was important that I did not come across as playing a prank on the barista when ordering. Rather, it's just an excuse to make them, or even whoever was in my car at the time, pause and smile. Part of the experiment has been feeding off the person's energy on the other side of the counter. If it is obvious they do not want to interact more than they have to, I order and move on. If they are already struggling with finding the button for black tea, I also order and move on.

Conversely, if the person taking the order seems to be a seasoned Starbucks veteran, I may even put a serious spin on it, asking not only ask for a splash of love but that they make sure it's included. Then I watch as they turn to a co-worker and say ‘Please make sure that last drink has a splash of love.’

The way in which the love is added is always kind of creative. Sometimes, as part of the drink description label, there will be a line that reads, ‘splash of love’ or ‘extra love.’ That has happened several times.

I've also had heart stickers added to the lid or hearts drawn all over the cup. The day a lanky college-aged barista with long hair under his baseball cap drew hearts all over my cup, he also drew them all over my co-worker’s cup and said with delivery, ‘I made sure there was more than a splash.’

Well played, I thought.

There was only one time thus far that the person on the other end did not catch on right away, failing to understand my request through the drive-through. She proceeded to ask me to repeat my order; which I did, and then said, ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know what that is.’ I rephrased and asked if it could be made with ‘TLC,’ she replied, ‘Oh! I thought it was a new brand of milk that I hadn’t heard of!’

She was sweet, and admittedly, it broke my heart a little that she said she didn’t know what love was.

The whole point of this silly act is that it is a silly act – just something very simple that makes someone smile most of the time or even chuckle a little. Something said with a straight face or even a follow up after receiving the drink confirming that there was love included.

If I can make my co-worker, mom, or even my guy laugh a little by asking for a splash of love at the end of my order, it goes a long way for my heart as well.

When my cup has that on the label or a sticker or hearts drawn on the cup, it reminds me for the rest of the day that there are small and simple gestures to bring a little brightness into someone else’s day.

In a world where there is so much darkness facing us, it is something I will gladly continue and encourage anyone else to do the same.