How can I learn to communicate in the younger folks language?

Good morning Rob. Try English: a splash on a tiny drop of cream. Best I can do....Good luck.

Rob, ask for black coffee and put in your own cream!

I ask for coffee the other day and two creams at the drive through of the local McDonalds.  I expected the cream to be in the sack so I could use it if I wanted because if the coffee is fresh and good, I do not use cream.  Instead they dumped a bunch of cream in it and I never knew if the coffee was any good or not... couldn't taste it!

I actually quit drinking coffee, i was drinking a little too much or maybe even a lot. BUT i quite going through drive thrus as they were always wrong. It is part dont care, part not paying attention, part not listening and a littel rushing. Either way asking for it on the side will cure that. So Coffee hashtag cream on the side. 

The problem might not have anything to do with the "age gap".  It could be that they're paid so little to work at a coffee stand that they just don't care what anybody wants in their coffee.

Bring your own, Rob. 

Sometimes the solution is right around the corner Rob D. Shepherd. This may not be the answer you were looking for so I added a "Like" & this comment instead. Thank you for sharing on Activerain, please come again.

Rob - I'm not sure what would help with the person behind the counter getting your order right. There are a ton of solutions that you can do, but it doesn't solve the issue that the person taking your order can't get it right. If they can't get your request right, I would imagine there are a lot of other people who are getting their orders wrong as well.

I could just see a ton of people ordering their coffee, but all carrying around their own cream. Again, not the solution I would want. I would want the person to take my order correctly.

How about testing your coffee before you leave, and if it is not right, give it back to them and let them know that was not what you ordered. Keep returning it until they get your order right. 

Order it black, then say "Ooops, I forgot, can I have some cream?"

In the manner they like to communicate.  Ask them how?  That's the way we run our business, how our clients want.  Text is their preferred way but it has its limitations

I think it a little of both.... they get so little they don't care and they are so distracted they can never get the order right.

There is a Starbucks in Houston which I drive by twice a day. They must clean and scour out the pot in which the coffee is made about once a week because it is really weak and tastes like hot water.... then later on in the week the coffee tastes better.... I have not experienced this at other Starbucks.... Maybe the quality of the beans is going down since there is not enough people to pick them ...but that is another story.

Getting coffee that is fresh and to order is hard to come by.  I never drink any coffee, except what I brew myself.    Drinking coffee out of a styrofoam or paper cup doesn't appeal to me.

It sounds to me like you need to learn to speak moron to get these people to understand what you're trying to order. I'm not sure it's a younger generation thing. It sounds like they just don't care how to do their job.

I ask to get the cream "on the side", Rob D. Shepherd.   Or cream "to go" .. or something similar.  Seems to work better more often ...  

Gene