A couple of weeks ago I mentioned the new Dunkin’ Donuts that recently opened up across the street from the building I work in. Before it existed, I was pretty frequently in the Starbucks that’s actually in my building, on the ground floor. I haven’t stopped going there entirely, though. I usually get my morning coffee at Dunkin’, but I still go for a Starbucks americano in the afternoon pretty regularly.

In any case, the point is that the staff there know me well. Several of the baristas know my name and my drink and will occasionally upsize it for free or give me drink vouchers if I have to wait for it longer than usual. But one of the guys who works there takes friendliness a little too far, and I’ve dubbed him Creepy Guy. He’s not a barista, and I usually see him refilling the milk containers or emptying the trash or whatever. Without fail, if he notices that I’m standing in line or by the bar waiting for my drink, he’ll stop whatever he’s doing and come over to talk to me.

I don’t remember when he switched from just acknowledging my presence in the store with a smile or a nod like most of the other employees do to pretending that we’re best friends forever, but it was pretty sudden, which is one reason it’s so creepy. One day he just started asking bizarre questions “Do you do breathing exercises when you’re upset?” I mean, what? Maybe I was looking stressed or irritated or something, but how is that a good way to open a conversation with a girl you don’t know even a little bit?

More frequently he asks things about my job - what floor my office is on, what my title is, how many people work with me. Once he joked that he was going to have to start hanging around in the the lobby to find out where my office was. He already knows my first name and the name of the company I work for from the other (non-creepy) staff members who see us in there a lot.

Either Creepy Guy is going to get fired (if he’s creepy with other customers who are more apt to complain than I am) or I’m going to have to abandon that Starbucks entirely. Which would be a shame given all the non-weird people there and the fact that even if Dunkin’ Donuts made an americano it would probably be wretched, but I really don’t need any more creepy people in my life.