Just Me, Kacper, and a Coffee Machine That Looked Like It Exploded

Surviving a bank holiday weekend with half a team, a full queue, and a whole lot of cake

Bank Holiday Vibes (and Rising Panic)

When the sun shines and two key team members vanish.

Bank holidays always brings a certain energy - sunshine (for once!), holidaymakers flooding in, and that special blend of chaos and community. This past week, the weather has been glorious, and the spirits were high. It should have been perfect.

Except... two of our team were off. Holidays, plans, life stuff. And when there are only ever four of you to begin with, losing half the crew means one thing: you're going in deep.

Zoe, who's usually on coffee, is an absolute brilliant barista - calm under pressure, precise, and just gets it. And Riley, my first born, is usually on the till - kind, warm, and so great with customers. When they both ask for the same weekend off, I'll admit, I felt a bit sick. But I couldn't say no. They work so hard, and they deserve the break.

So, it was just me and my trainee Kacper. No coffee person. No till person. No second set of hands on food. Just us. And a prayer.

Just the Two of Us (Please Send Help)

Me and Kacper, holding the fort like caffeinated warriors. (Not that we had any time to make ourselves one!)

I came in super early to get ahead - scones, soggy aunties, croissants and granola bars all baked and ready before we opened. On days like this, you have to play it by ear. You might be overwhelmed with hot food orders, or it might be a drinks-and-cake stampede. You never know. There's always that quiet moment before the storm where you wonder, How on earth is this going to work?

And then we opened. At 10am, the queue was already waiting.

From that moment on, it was non-stop. We were absolutely slammed for three solid hours - hot drinks, iced lattes, mochas, flat whites, cappuccinos and so much cake. Luckily ( and I'm still not sure why), hardly anyone ordered hot food. That was our saving grace. Kacper was able to jump on the till and help sort the cake orders while I manned the coffee machine and tried to make the counter presentable.

10am: Open Doors, Immediate Regret

A queue before opening? Of course there was.

There's always the initial shock when the doors open, and today was no different. It's like you blink, and suddenly there are people lined up, ready to take you on a caffeinated duel.

We dug in, started running the coffee machine like we were getting paid by the shot, and hoped for the best.

Praise be: Only 30 People Ordered Eggs

A gentle simmer, not a full boil.

Okay-some people ordered eggs. About 30 of them, in fact. Which sounds like a lot ( and it is), but compared to a usual Saturday or Sunday, when we are dealing with anything between 50 to over 100 food orders on top of everything else? It was practically a walk in the park. A very sweaty, cake filled, milk-splattered park.

That little break from the usual food madness made all the difference. It meant Kacper could jump between till and hot food, and cake sorting without us collapsing in a puddle of fried egg madness.

A Boy Called Kacper

18, Fearless, and possibly powered by cake fumes.

Let me tell you a little bit about Kacper. He's 18, and full of love and enthusiasm for food and coffee, and honestly-he just gets it. He's got that rare energy where nothing is too much trouble, everything is interesting, and he pulls his weight like someone who's been doing this for years. Watching him hold his own this weekend made me so proud. He didn't just survive the chaos, he helped carry it.

We Laughed, We Cried, We Made Coffee

At around 1pm, we finally caught a breath. The queue thinned just enough for us to stand still. We looked at each other and laughed - one of those dazed " did that actually just happen?" giggles. We made ourselves a coffee, wiped sweat from our brows.....

And ten minutes later, the second wave hit. Another two hours of sheer madness.

The Aftermath: A Scene from a Latte Crime Drama

Empty milk bottles, rogue croissant crumbs, and a haunted coffee machine.

Catering is mental. There is no other word for it.

The thing about being in the thick of it is that you don't notice the mess - you're too busy surviving. But the minute you get a moment to breath, you look around and...wow. Coffee grounds everywhere. Empty milk bottlles piling up. Cakes needing replenishing. Crumbs on every surface. And the coffee machine? it looked like something had exploded.

Would We Do It Again? Ask Us After a Nap

Chaos, crumbs, camaraderie-and the stuff great weekends are made of.

But somehow, it worked. We worked. Just me and Kacper, holding it all together with caffeine , determination, and teamwork.

It wasn't glamorous . It wasn't neat. But it was ours. And on days like this- when the scones sell out, the sun shines, and the chaos becomes something you laugh about later - you remember why you love it.

Here's to the beautiful mess of it all.