Coffee among Americans while waiting for a Chinese music show

On Friday, all of a sudden we decided - together with sis - to go to this dance and music performance of a Chinese ensamble called My Dream. It was going to be performed in the NDK so I had an hour to spend... decided to go, and sit, and relax and - most important, lose one hour at the Starbucks coffee opposite the National Palace of Culture ( more of a disdainfully sounding title, than a phrase really reflecting the current status of this building).
So , with the expectation of losing an hour in a peaceful observation of the environment and people drinking coffee at 5 pm (and not working? what type of people are these?) I stepped into the tiny saloon. One of the two in the city centre of Sofia, it occupies a small spot at a corner between two busy streets. People inside were few - a bunch of blond teenage girls looking as if they were just coming from a fashion magazine photo session, a young man who caught my attention immediately and a business couple - a man and a woman who were American. It showed by her incredible level of voice - such a small and elegant woman, talking so loudly that I could hardly hear my thoughts.
I've heard that Americans use this level of speech normally, but this is only the second American who I have the chance to observe personally so I can't generalize... though I was really tempted to do so while I was being forced to listen to her.
Anyway, what struck me there is that in Starbucks - this temple of 'prepare-your-own-unique-drink' culture this American woman was trying to explain for some 3-4 min that she wants a normal espresso in a tall cup. The girl behind the bar couldn't understand why would somebody ask for a drink that is different from the standardized ones and she needed to ask few questions in order to understand what exactly is required of her to prepare. Is it so difficult?
The good thing was that I had something to think about while having my absolutely standard short capuccino.