I love articles like this because you can find out what else people who actually have these jobs think. You guessed it--I'm a proud barista. Here's some things we want you to know.

1) Know where you are. Are you in a Starbucks? Are you in a café that serves Starbucks coffee products? Are you in a local café?

2) Know the difference. Know the lingo of the café and who takes the Starbucks app and gift cards. Hint: Only actual Starbucks takes them. Even if the café serves their products--like the Café in Barnes & Noble.

3) Know what you want. Your barista understands if you need some questions answered, but please have a clue. It's kind of like when you have no idea what kind of haircut you want. Give us something to work with.

4) How to give us something to work with: Do you want something hot or cold? Something coffee based or cream based? Something with espresso? Something sweet? We can guide you, but at least know the basics.

5) Please...please don't call it a “frappé”. That's SOLELY a McDonald’s drink. Please.

6) TIP YOUR BARISTA. No matter where you are--tip your barista. Especially when you see them working so hard. Cafés in bookstores don't allow tip jars, but the baristas can still accept tips.

I know that ordering can be a bit overwhelming, but I'll be honest with you, as a Barista, it is frustrating when people don't know what they want. Or when people call it a "frappé". Or when people don't know how to say "Macchiato". Or when 10 people order frappuchinos back to back. Definitely don't forget to tip your barista when they make you a blended drink.

Our jobs are not as easy as you think. We fuel the people from every background and every line of work. Often we are overlooked in importance. But we will remember that when we are making 4 drinks at once and cleaning up as we go.

I wrote an article a while back about the basics of coffee drinks and I know there are several on the internet. Give it a swift look and you'll be good to go.