History Main / YouGetMeCoffee

* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels, the third witch with Granny Weatherwax and Nanny Ogg (eg, Magrat or Agnes) seems to get this quite a bit. Usually it's "make the tea," but sometimes it's "run a simple errand even you couldn't possibly mess up." Of course, half the time this is because Granny is plotting something ...

->''See this hand? It should have a coffee in it. You have five seconds.''\\

* There's a fairly common satirical joke that this is NickClegg's role towards DavidCameron in the [[UsefulNotes/BritishPoliticalSystem UK's current Coalition Government.]]

* In the movie version of ''Theatre/{{Annie}}'' starring Aileen Quinn, Mr. Warbucks gives out a long list of orders to a bunch of his staff when he begins the search for Annie's parents. His last order is, "And Sanders -- get me a drink!"

** It doesn't really make a difference, either. Grif wasn't trained for that anyway. You'd think more people would think of that one.

* In ''CityHomicide'' Detective Senior Sergeant Sparkes does this to Jen in the first episode, revealing just how much he respects her abilities as a homicide detective. It's quite satisfying when he collapses from a heart attack by the end of the episode and she is reassigned to Stanley's team.

--> '''Ed''': Okay, here's what I want you to do. Do a reverse infiltration here, where we came in, then backtrack down these stairs, across the street and do a tactical infiltration of the Timmy's here, get me a large double-double. Jules?\\
'''Jules''': No, I'm good.\\
'''Wordy''': Two sugar, no milk for me.

* In the Supreme Court of the United States, the most junior Justice is tasked with fetching coffee, opening doors, dispatching memos and doing any other menial task that the other Justices need done. At the end of Justice Stephen Breyer’s eleven-year run as coffee-boy, he remarked, “I’ve gotten pretty good at this, haven’t I?” “[[DeadpanSnarker No, you haven’t,]]” replied Scalia.

* ''City Homicide'' - Detective Senior Sergeant Sparkes does this to Jen in the first episode, revealing just how much he respects her abilities as a homicide detective. It's quite satisfying when he collapses from a heart attack by the end of the episode and she is reassigned to Stanley's team.

* In the Supreme Court of the United States, the most junior Justice is tasked with fetching coffee, opening doors, dispatching memos and any other menial task that the other Justices needs done. At the end of Justice Stephen Breyer’s eleven-year run as coffee-boy, he remarked, “I’ve gotten pretty good at this, haven’t I?” Scalia replied, “[[DeadpanSnarker No, you haven’t.]]”

* ''{{Dollhouse}}''. A running gripe with Topher's assistant, Ivy. She's there to do cutting-edge work on NeuralImplanting technology without legal or moral restraint, but (egotistical genius that Topher is) she spends a lot of time doing routine tasks and fetching his snacks.

* ''TheDevilWearsPrada'': YouGetMeCoffee from hell.

* A senior officer attempts to pull this on Monica Figuerola in ''The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest''. When asking a group of men if they want coffee, he turns to her. She coolly replies, "Yes, I'd like some coffee too", thus letting him know in no uncertain terms that she will ''not'' tolerate being treated like a secretary or underling.

* In the Supreme Court of the United States, the most junior Justice is tasked with fetching coffee, opening doors, dispatching memos and any other menial task that the other Justices needs done. At the end of Justice Stephen Breyer’s eleven-year run as coffee-boy, he asked Scalia, “I’ve gotten pretty good at this, haven’t I?” Scalia replied, “[[DeadpanSnarker No, you haven’t.]]”

-->'''Uppity Minion:''' Jamie, you just have to come to terms with the fact that, in the candidate's eyes, we're equals now.

-->'''Uppity Minion:''' [protests]

-->'''Uppity Minion:''' Okay, ''fine.''

* ''Series/{{Life On Mars|2006}}'' - Happened at least once to Chris and Annie. And even more often to Shaz in ''AshesToAshes''.

* In ''TheCityHunter'', [[LoveInterest Na Na]] owes [[TheHero Yun Sung]] a favor, which she agrees to repay by doing various tasks such as driving his car and fetching him coffee. Especially the latter. Apparently, it's her fault for making ''really good'' coffee.
* On ''Series/{{Copper}}'' NewMeat police officer Finbar Byrnes is subjected to this from the senior detectives. In one incident he is tasked with catching a wayward sheep in Central Park because Detective O'Brien wants some mutton to bring home to his wife.

* In Legally Blonde, The Musical, Professor Callahan orders Warner to get him coffee while the legal team is celebrating after their victory in "There! Right There!" He may not have expected him to return, seeing as he [[spoiler:[[IHaveYouNowMyPretty forces a kiss]] on Elle immediately after.]]

* Sent up in ''{{Airplane}}!'':

** In ''Airplane 2: The Sequel'', [=McCrosky=] arrives on the scene and barks out an order for a quart of Geritol and a ham on rye (no cheese!).

* ''{{The X-Files}}'' - Krycek is sent for coffee during a hostage situation.

* ''MadMen'' - Most of the women working for Sterling-Cooper have this role, and the show plays the trope straight for two seasons. In Season Three's finale "Shut the Door. Have a Seat", [[spoiler:[[AntiHero Don Draper]], [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Roger Sterling]], [[CloudCuckoolander Bert Cooper]], and [[ButtMonkey Lane Pryce]] have left Sterling-Cooper and formed their own ad agency, Sterling-Cooper-Draper-Pryce]]. Everyone is running around, doing important, time-sensitive tasks. After working for hours around a sea of paperwork, Roger asks [[CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Peggy]] (formerly a secretary, by now a seasoned copywriter) to get him coffee. Without looking up, she delivers a flat [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome "No."]]

* {{Batman}} doesn't drink alcohol, but darn it does he drink gallons of coffee. Here is a fancomic of [[http://lazy-lazy-ninja101.deviantart.com/art/Robins-Internship-251918960 the real purpose for ten years of Robins]].

* Sebastian Stark of ''{{Shark}}'' is especially fond of doing this to his underlings in the Prosecutor's office, usually keeping the same tone of voice for both the important and non-important instructions.
* Greg of ''{{CSI}}'' used to be subjected to this type of thing a lot before he was promoted to the field. Since then, the other {{Lab Rat}}s who mainly work in the office get this duty instead.

## imaginary
## [[ImpossibleTask impossible]]
## [[WeNeedADistraction intended to get the person out of the way]]

And the dreams of the coffee-fetcher are quickly smashed. Understandably often done at the expense of the ButtMonkey. Is not necessarily limited to caffeinated beverages, as it has been known to happen with lunch, office equipment, and various other demeaning and unimportant tasks. May overlap with SnipeHunt if the task is A.) imaginary B.) impossible or C.) intended purely to get the person out of the way.

* Done in TheMovie version of ''Film/TheFugitive''. In one early scene, Gerard sends each of the members of his team off on an errand or evidence gathering, and ends by sending the new kid (appropriately named Newman) off to get him a cup of coffee and a donut with sprinkles. The instructions to Newman take about three times longer than the instructions to the rest of the team combined. Gerard really likes his coffee.

* There's a fairly common satirical joke that this is NickClegg's role towards DavidCameron in the [[BritishPoliticalSystem UK's current Coalition Government.]]