I find this article to be a joke on two fronts... First the results themselves, 20 seconds difference? You know how large of a study you would actually have to conduct for such a small time frame to mean anything? You'd need thousands of people, in hundreds of cities to actually make those results mean anything. Second, you ignore actual service, did the women get BETTER service, did the server give them a better product, (more mix, more sugar, whatever) Also, I know for a fact that women give men better service and men give women better service, everybody knows this, its called getting a tip. If you worked in the service industry for a week you'd know it.

Finally what does 20 seconds even mean? it means nothing. its not even half a minute, pretending that this means people are sexist is hillarious to me, perhaps women talk more and the service person does not want to jump in, or maybe the study was done incorrectly based on expected bias, causing them to consider service complete at a different point for men than for women. Also, women have conversations with servers more often than men do, this in itself would slow the whole thing down. Actually that would make sense when considering 20 seconds extra.

Ultimately this is an example of how you can create the illusion of sexism or racism in anything. You couldn't possibly plan to make your service 20 seconds slower, oh im going to get this stupid female, im going to give it to her 20 seconds from now hahahahahaa. What a joke of a study. What is there next study going to be? Subway stops 10 seconds later for women than men... causes them to be late for work, which gives men excuses not to give them raises. One big conspiracy. Then again, maybe I'd be cranky too, if I had to wait a whole 20 seconds for coffee... or actually speciality drinks.

Interesting.... Who knew I would enjoy the article's posted comments more that the article. That research was a waste of time and coffee. I feel sorry for the poor saps doing the research, perhaps they were so wired by the end of the study that 20 seconds acctually felt like an unreasonable, sexist, racist delay. Was this a comedy piece? I feel like I've lost 20 seconds reading that.

I'm curious how this plays out in restaurant settings.

Having worked in both coffee shops and restaurants, I, though a woman, favor male customers -- they complain less and are generally less demanding. It could explain the lag. It's not justified, but it is a possible explanation.

First off, quantiy does not always equate to quality. There are many areas of service where taking more time equates to better service not worse service. McDonalds is quick but not where I choose to eat lunch.

Secondly,perhaps barista's may purposely slow down when the lines are long. Did you ever think about that? Could be due to inderference or maybe its just a power thing.

And lastly, if you try to constuct your research without taking into account the significant impact of socialising and flirtng then I think there are things about coffee shops that you seriously don't understand.

I live in the Northwest, where there is some sort of rule that says you can never, ever be more than half a mile away from a coffee shop. Coffee runs are twice daily occurances for me, and I can honestly say that I don't think I've ever been shabbily treated by male or female baristas...very occasionally, I've had a longish wait because I've asked for a specialty drink, or have been given the wrong drink. I ask for the correct drink, they apologize, and I get my order. No sexism, just human error.

I live in Southern California and I have never experienced coffee discrimination. I am a female and blonde and so far I have not had any problems. www.myspace.com/IamRobinSavage

Oh, descrimination definately does exist. Only those who it is not aimed at don;t feel it. Count yourself lucky.

I'm Hispanic male and often treated as if I don't exist. I tried withholding my hard earned money from these places but ended up watching too much television.

I wish people would realise that we create our own society. Lets create a heaven by treating everybody with respect.

I'm wondering how this study was even constructed. Coffee shops don't operate like fast food restaurants. During busy times, one cashier rings you up and you wait near the drink pick up line. Those that make the drinks are concentrating on what order is next, not who ordered what. If the coffee-makers knew who ordered each drink, they wouldn't call out names or coffee drinks trying to find the orderee.

The whole time I'm reading this, I'm hearing waa-waa-waa. Is there anywhere that you don't imagine discrimination taking place? How is flirting (if that truely is what's occuring) considered flirting and how is flirting discriminatory? It's coffee for God's sake. Drink it and be greatful you live in a free country where you can afford the over-priced stuff.

If this is real, then it is a chance for some entrepreneur to make money by providing better service.

A key issue is calling anecdotal observations by the name of studies. It maybe a study, but most likely it is just casual observation by a biased source. Clearly not a scientific double blind study. Are there any statistics associated with the information? How many subjects? When? What was the expertise of the study principle and the observers? Etc.