Lactose-Intolerant Man’s Starbucks Rant Goes Viral: ‘I Don’t Order Soy Milk To Sound Fancy’

A New York man’s rant about how his lactose intolerance is often ignored by Starbucks has gone viral in the few days since he posted it on social media. And as seen in the many responses to his post, 28-year-old Demit Strato is not alone when it comes to Starbucks allegedly ignoring or disregarding his special requests.

According to a report from the Huffington Post, Bayside, Queens vape shop owner Demit Strato has made it a point to order his iced coffees with soy milk, having discovered he was lactose-intolerant about four years ago. Starbucks baristas, however, haven’t been known to honor or take note of this request 100 percent of the time, and Monday morning was no exception, as Strato detailed in a Facebook post cited and quoted by the HuffPost.

“This is the second time I ordered a Venti Iced Coffee with Soy Milk this month where the Soy Milk request was ignored and regular milk was instead used. I’ve pooped 11 times since the A.M. My bottom hurts from all the wiping.”

As Strato explained, he orders soy milk instead of regular milk with his coffee because of his lactose intolerance, not because he wants his Starbucks coffee orders to “sound fancy.” He also went on to reference the Pokemon character Charmander, a character known for the always-present and burning flame at the tip of its tail.

“I order soy milk so that my bottom doesn’t blast fire for 4 hours. I’m not a Charmander. Thank you for listening to my rant.”

Lactose-intolerant Starbucks customer's toilet rant goes viral https://t.co/w5ZaPCfvwL

— Scotty Mac (@iamascottymac) June 29, 2017

Capping off his statement, Demit Strato concluded by letting Starbucks know that he was writing the post “from the comfort of (his) toilet.”

Buzzfeed noted that it didn’t take long for the lactose-intolerant Starbucks customer’s rant to go viral, as many people shared it and chimed in with their comments. Some of the remarks were arguably disparaging, but many others had empathized with Strato’s situation, admitting to being lactose-intolerant and claiming that Starbucks sometimes gives them coffee with real milk instead of soy milk.

The viral popularity of Demit Strato’s post has, so far, seen him receiving freebies for his troubles, including lactose-free energy bars from Verb, and a package from toilet fragrance maker Poo-Pourri. Strato also claims to have received a $50 gift card from Starbucks. In an interview with the Huffington Post, Strato added that he was able to speak to a Starbucks representative, who told him that he would take up the issue with his area manager and suggest a “training about dietary needs and lactose intolerance.”

But will Starbucks budge, even with the discussion Demit supposedly had with the company rep? Strato personally believes that it may take more than that before Starbucks baristas make it a point to offer non-dairy alternatives to their lactose-intolerant customers.

“If you read the comments [in the Facebook post], baristas said they don’t really take it serious[ly],” Strato told the HuffPost. “And many people complained that their baristas also very often give them regular milk.”

[Featured Image by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]