Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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total shit show (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by starbucks-newbie
hi! so i’m a new starbucks employee and i have been working at this starbucks kiosk for about a month and a half now. since the moment i started working here, as the title states, it has been a total shit show.
here’s a list why:
-the manager has quit four times
-i still struggle with the drinks
-i have felt with the rudest customers ever
-a girl who was hired before me is not certified to be a barista yet and the only person who is capable of certifying her is the manager, who quit.
-all of the other baristas are unreliable and call in two minutes before the shift
there are more reasons but i am going to talk about what happened today.
i opened today and everything seemed fine. i had fresh coffee brewed and i kept it going. and then one of the people i was supposed to work with today called in. i was supposed to leave at nine but i couldn’t find anyone else who was willing to come take his shift and the next person wasn’t scheduled until 12:15.
the store got really busy, and next thing i know we have a line of about 6 or 7 people. everything was fine, i was feeling confident, i knew all of the drinks, everything was great.
two customers ordered the same drink so i made them back to back and called their names. i was working on one of the last drinks i had and this older woman started throwing a fit. and i mean slamming her hands down on the counter and screaming at me. she told me that she had been waiting for over 20 minutes, which she had not, and saying that i called a drink that was supposed to be hers but it was for someone else.
i was trying to explain to her that i was the only one working and that i was trying my best to be a quick as possible. i was also making her drink while she was yelling at me. i tried to apologize to her but she kept screaming and pointing at me. basically she was telling me how horrible i was.
i usually don’t cry and i usually don’t let people get under my skin but she made me burst into tears. i kept trying to make people’s drinks but i could not stop crying. i couldn’t even look into customers eyes because i didn’t want to cry more. we finally calmed down and by that i mean that i had like 2 customers every five minutes.
no one was coming in after me and i was trying to clean up the kiosk from the rush and i could not stop crying.
this one guy approached the counter and wanted just an americano but he also wanted to purchase about 8 bottles of alcohol. they looked like juice so i tried scanning them but they weren’t coming through on my register and he made a smart comment to me then told me to go get the manager.
we don’t have a manager.
i went to the back office, cried to one of the store managers who didn’t work for starbucks, and she told me to just shut the kiosk down and that it was okay. she took care of everything and i don’t know if that man bought his alcohol or not but i just left the store crying.
i haven’t cried in two years. today i broke. all because one woman did not want to wait.
sorry if this is too long.
thanks for coming to my ted talk.
-starbucks-newbie
here’s a list why:
-the manager has quit four times
-i still struggle with the drinks
-i have felt with the rudest customers ever
-a girl who was hired before me is not certified to be a barista yet and the only person who is capable of certifying her is the manager, who quit.
-all of the other baristas are unreliable and call in two minutes before the shift
there are more reasons but i am going to talk about what happened today.
i opened today and everything seemed fine. i had fresh coffee brewed and i kept it going. and then one of the people i was supposed to work with today called in. i was supposed to leave at nine but i couldn’t find anyone else who was willing to come take his shift and the next person wasn’t scheduled until 12:15.
the store got really busy, and next thing i know we have a line of about 6 or 7 people. everything was fine, i was feeling confident, i knew all of the drinks, everything was great.
two customers ordered the same drink so i made them back to back and called their names. i was working on one of the last drinks i had and this older woman started throwing a fit. and i mean slamming her hands down on the counter and screaming at me. she told me that she had been waiting for over 20 minutes, which she had not, and saying that i called a drink that was supposed to be hers but it was for someone else.
i was trying to explain to her that i was the only one working and that i was trying my best to be a quick as possible. i was also making her drink while she was yelling at me. i tried to apologize to her but she kept screaming and pointing at me. basically she was telling me how horrible i was.
i usually don’t cry and i usually don’t let people get under my skin but she made me burst into tears. i kept trying to make people’s drinks but i could not stop crying. i couldn’t even look into customers eyes because i didn’t want to cry more. we finally calmed down and by that i mean that i had like 2 customers every five minutes.
no one was coming in after me and i was trying to clean up the kiosk from the rush and i could not stop crying.
this one guy approached the counter and wanted just an americano but he also wanted to purchase about 8 bottles of alcohol. they looked like juice so i tried scanning them but they weren’t coming through on my register and he made a smart comment to me then told me to go get the manager.
we don’t have a manager.
i went to the back office, cried to one of the store managers who didn’t work for starbucks, and she told me to just shut the kiosk down and that it was okay. she took care of everything and i don’t know if that man bought his alcohol or not but i just left the store crying.
i haven’t cried in two years. today i broke. all because one woman did not want to wait.
sorry if this is too long.
thanks for coming to my ted talk.
-starbucks-newbie
Snickersnackclickedy 17 points 4y ago
Dude, you deserve better than that. Go find a different job is what I say. You need a manager that encourages you, and coworkers that are a team. Seriously, start job hunting- this isn’t how you should be working, with all the unnecessary stress. Get a job that fills you up, not tears you down.
Cariboumoo 5 points 4y ago
I agree. As with most things in life, you need to be able to trust and rely on your team. I walked out on my last position because the team was a gossiping bunch of backstabbers. Management refused to acknowledge this and promoted the most neurotic behaviors. (Behaviors I will NEVER tolerate again)
​
Alternatively, I would speak with management about cleaning house and building a better team. Hell, maybe you can take the reigns and change things. (Worth a shot)
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Alternatively, I would speak with management about cleaning house and building a better team. Hell, maybe you can take the reigns and change things. (Worth a shot)
cringelien 3 points 4y ago
screw the other replies saying to suck it up. FIND A NEW JOB. i don’t care if it’s a different starbucks, it should just be different. this goes beyond “oh that’s just a part of it! teehee!”. don’t stay. leave.
myerselizabeth347 8 points 4y ago
Leave. Leave immediately. You dont deserve this and someone will appreciate you so much more. If not you are strong and you WILL survive this nightmare.
Cariboumoo 8 points 4y ago
Years from now you'll have a good laugh at this situation and pride yourself in the resiliency you've built up.
​
There is a saying: Kill them with kindness. I remember one Friday night as a server in a busy restaurant, I was absolutely slammed. One woman in particular was upset that she had walked into a shit show expecting non-shit-show service. Her expectations were unrealistic and she was an entitled cunt. (Other factors in her life had made her this way, not my service or the restaurant) I knew right away she was going to exercise her will to be a bitch and could not help but smile. I saw right through it. She never got to me because I was too busy to give a shit. And the more she bitched, the bigger my grin got. There was a friendly smile on my face and, in my mind, I had reduced her to the pathetic squabbling worm that she was. I gave her the best service I could as with all my other customers. At the end of the day, you just gotta say: "Oh, this one wants to be a dick or asshole. I've seen this shit before. Just get them on their way and don't let it afflict my performance."
​
From a parenting book I am reading by a US Navy Seal, the author writes: In training, the instructors don't encourage you but rather try their best to mentally (And physically) push you as far possible in order to make you resilient. It is a very valuable skill not to react to people and their childish mind-games or cries for attention. The instructors will call you names and tell you that you're going to fail but the challenge is to push through it.
​
Just last week, I had to scold a family member because she wasn't carrying her weight on a very important project. She sent me this very long text calling me mean and unthoughtful. (You don't care about me or the family, blah blah blah) I didn't react. I just reaffirmed that she needed to get the tasks done. I absolutely refused to acknowledge her attempt to fight me. The next day, she cooled down and moved forward with the project.
​
I think you are a stronger person now having experienced this. Next time it happens, you will recognize a whiny dipshit when you see it, a smile will come to your face, and you'll do your best to get them the fuck out of there. In time, you will harden into a powerful leader.
​
To quote Captain Jean-Luc Picard when there was a shit-show aboard his ship: "Sometimes you just have to bow to the absurd."
​
You got this. :)
​
There is a saying: Kill them with kindness. I remember one Friday night as a server in a busy restaurant, I was absolutely slammed. One woman in particular was upset that she had walked into a shit show expecting non-shit-show service. Her expectations were unrealistic and she was an entitled cunt. (Other factors in her life had made her this way, not my service or the restaurant) I knew right away she was going to exercise her will to be a bitch and could not help but smile. I saw right through it. She never got to me because I was too busy to give a shit. And the more she bitched, the bigger my grin got. There was a friendly smile on my face and, in my mind, I had reduced her to the pathetic squabbling worm that she was. I gave her the best service I could as with all my other customers. At the end of the day, you just gotta say: "Oh, this one wants to be a dick or asshole. I've seen this shit before. Just get them on their way and don't let it afflict my performance."
​
From a parenting book I am reading by a US Navy Seal, the author writes: In training, the instructors don't encourage you but rather try their best to mentally (And physically) push you as far possible in order to make you resilient. It is a very valuable skill not to react to people and their childish mind-games or cries for attention. The instructors will call you names and tell you that you're going to fail but the challenge is to push through it.
​
Just last week, I had to scold a family member because she wasn't carrying her weight on a very important project. She sent me this very long text calling me mean and unthoughtful. (You don't care about me or the family, blah blah blah) I didn't react. I just reaffirmed that she needed to get the tasks done. I absolutely refused to acknowledge her attempt to fight me. The next day, she cooled down and moved forward with the project.
​
I think you are a stronger person now having experienced this. Next time it happens, you will recognize a whiny dipshit when you see it, a smile will come to your face, and you'll do your best to get them the fuck out of there. In time, you will harden into a powerful leader.
​
To quote Captain Jean-Luc Picard when there was a shit-show aboard his ship: "Sometimes you just have to bow to the absurd."
​
You got this. :)
berrygirl55 4 points 4y ago
fuck that lady!! you’re doing great for only being a month in. it can be so overwhelming but you will get better. she probably has an awful life that makes her lash out onto others. mean customers are just a part of starbucks. eventually you get used to it and laugh off the garbage human beings. it shouldn’t be that way but it is :(
valnavi 1 points 4y ago
I would have closed it down as soon as they told me no one else was coming in. Like hell no.
missjriss 1 points 4y ago
Wow find another job or at least another starbucks store. I've never heard of any store being that bad.
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