Starbucks Baristas Notice Man Lingering Around Teen Girl, Write Message On Her Cup

A group of Starbucks baristas in Texas was praised for looking out for a teenager by giving her a coffee cup that had a handwritten message.

The girl's mother shared the story and appreciated the baristas for their gesture.

Brandy Roberson said her 18-year-old daughter was studying alone at a Starbucks in the Corpus Christi area when the teen was approached by a stranger.

“She wanted to get out of the house and go sit and study somewhere. She likes to go study at coffee shops,” she told TODAY Food.

Roberson said the man who approached her daughter talked “fairly loudly” and lingered around her for some time. His behavior did not go unnoticed by the coffee shop's staff.

“It sounded like he was quite animated. I believe this is what alerted the employees,” the mother said. “He had also not come in with my daughter, so they knew she probably did not know him.”

A female barista walked up to the high schooler and gave her a paper coffee cup with a message on it. It was “an extra hot chocolate someone forgot to pick up,” the barista told the teen.

“Are you okay? Do you want us to intervene? If you do, take the lid off the cup,” read the message.

The teenager looked up and was touched to see a row of baristas looking at her -- they were ready to step in if she needed them to. Roberson said her daughter let the staff members know that she was okay.

The man eventually left the girl alone after noticing that she was communicating with the baristas.

“I am incredibly grateful to the staff there. I hope that we can all learn from them and be willing to help anyone who seems that they might need help,” the mother told the publication.

When the girl got back home, she narrated the incident to her mother who was also grateful to the baristas for making sure her daughter felt safe.

“She was holding the cup and knew that I would love that someone did that for her,” Roberson went on to say. “It made me feel so grateful that the Starbucks employees were watching out for her. As a mom, that is my worst fear that something would happen to my child and nobody would be there to help.”

TODAY Food reached out to Starbucks, but the multinational chain declined to comment on the incident.

Roberson said the coffee shop incident made her feel reassured as her daughter is just months away from going to college. She also hopes other businesses will train their staff in taking action during similar situations.

“This reaffirms my faith in humanity,” Roberson told the New York Post. “Maybe just seeing this story, others…if given the opportunity to say something or turn away, they would say something.”