I had a customer order a standard Grande-sized English Breakfast Tea with milk. The till transaction was all so simple. I wasn't prepared for what is next to come. Being dictated on how to make a cup of tea!

Out of nowhere: "come on, put-the-tea-bag-in-theee-cup!!!".

Well, I have to tear the individual teabag sachet, take out the teabag and get the string tab... nothing difficult and not too time consuming either but takes longer than if it was simply picking a Yorkshire Tea teabag from the box. Say 5 seconds instead of 1? The first bag was torn so instead of cheating the customer, I got another tea bag...

"Come on, pour in the hot water...".

Well obviously, but we have to put a clutch sleeve due to the temperature. Again, takes a few seconds longer when getting the teabag tab put underneath the sleeve to allow people to easily remove the teabag if they choose. Just happened to be an over-glued clutch sleeve, easily rectified by selecting another. Two less-than-ideal scenarios, maybe added 6 seconds tops, frequent happenings which no other customer has ever commented on let alone made a big issue out of.

"hurrrry up!! I have a train to catch...".

Nobody is waiting for a kettle to boil. A cup of tea is approximately a 20-25 second drink to make from getting the order to hand-off. If you get lucky with the teabag, it can be as little as half that time.

Tone was somewhat between aggressive and condescending. Us service workers need to observe a minimal standard of respect from customers or we should be prepared to refuse the service. I questioned the customer and said politely that I was unhappy with her patronising remarks. She responded to say she didn't mean to come across as patronising. I followed up to say apology accepted - even though it wasn't really an apology - and said there probably isn't enough time now to make your drink. I offered a refund. Which she reluctantly accepted. It was at this moment she likely realised all she needed to do was be a bit patient.

No train leaving for another 5 minutes at least. No trains had recently departed either so she hadn't missed a train.

So this customer had to endure her journey without a cup of tea which hopefully gave her the opportunity to reflect that a bit of respect to the person making your drink goes a long way.

Other customers in the queue seemed supportive and some impressed. I really appreciate that.

I'm British and have been making tea daily for decades, I know how to make a cup of tea! We all have our individual preferences though.

The customer was watching like a hawk but not observant on the speed I was working at and the minor issues which arose (discarding the first split teabag on the counter next to the cup was so obvious; the reason for opening a new teabag sachet with no second cup nearby was equally as obvious considering the split tea bag; not being able to open the clutch sleeve and then torn; getting a new sleeve and instantly putting it on the cup).