I take umbrage with Chemex because it's effectively this but without the advantages of being dishwasher-safe and easy to clean.

I'm the worst kind of coffee snob - a basic bitch that values beans.

Is this a real thing that happens? Is this, like, specific to LA or something?

My experience, even at shitholes like Intelligentsia, is that they'll happily sell you extra shit because it means they can charge you more which means their tips are bigger. But then, everyone in LA is slinging coffee while waiting for their agent to call back so they aren't true believers.

These guys are true believers.

Looking back on it, I've come around to the theory that the barista there took one look at me and told herself "Oh shit this guy is going to HATE our coffee" and was fighting a defensive battle from the get-go.

Uhhh I think the longest I've ever waited for a coffee was...10 minutes?

I waited 25 minutes for my girlfriend's latte at the time. The original coffee shop that had been there ten years had died ignominiously and Starbuck's had totally taken off (side note: dated a girl from Tacoma back in New Mexico and we went to see Sleepless in Seattle together; she pointed at the Starbuck's logo in one scene and said "you'll be seeing a lot of that soon") but Los Alamos didn't have one yet so this earnest old pharmacist wrestled a brand-new Gaggia for easily four songs trying to coax this miraculous new form of beverage from it. They were so eager it was endearing. Well, to me, anyway. The girlfriend had no idea why it took 25 minutes to make a latte.