This is just going to be a very long and slow tea spill.

So, I dont particularly like my manager. Neither does about 99% of the store, or the original staff that either transferred or quit because of her. Tbh if I can vent a little, she's extremely patronizing (customers and baristas alike), she plays favourites, she keeps us all on a bare bare bones crew so she can get bonuses, and she ALWAYS diverts blame from herself.

One thing I keep thinking of is the time that we had an after-hours store meeting. We all split into two groups, and she paced back and forth and back and forth like a goddamn teacher during a test while we watched videos the company had released on Starbucks ideals and all that jazz. Now, I've improved a lot over the years, but I used to hate anyone at all being behind me. It would make me extremely uncomfortable, and I would always sit or stand with my back against a wall. I honestly thought I might have gotten over that, but no. My manager walking back and forth - always coming from behind me - was setting me incredibly on edge as time went on. I eventually couldn't take it anymore and I told her to stop because it was triggering some ptsd symptoms. Her immediate response? "But I didn't come from behind you!" Why? Because at that moment, she had come towards our group from the side instead of behind me. I spent the next few days really jittery about people behind me.

Everyone on the team absolutely hates the waxy she talks to the customers. She talks in a very forced high pitched voice that she somehow thinks is very customer-service appropriate, and literally talks to people the same way you would talk to a child. She asks people "and what's your name? :)" like she's asking a two year old who is extremely shy. I know I'm no expert at being super connective with customers because I was homeschooled for 11 years, but at least I'm trying my goddamn hardest to connect with customers on a personal, friendly and equal level rather than just obviously kiss their ass solely for the sake of "customer connections".

Really the final straw, the reason I almost quit and I sobbed for 30 damn minutes in the back room, was because she "fired" one of my best friends/a coworker. Meaning, she didn't fire them outright, shes said they could either be fired or put in their two weeks notice. They had been late too many times, and even though they were making a very conscious effort to make it to work on time - not being late in almost a month - before they slept past their alarm once and got stuck in traffic because there was an accident on the highway. None of that mattered. And ok, if you want to fire someone when they're around 10m late a decent amount of the time in the past, sure. Seems like a dick move to me personally, but go ahead, IF YOU'RE GOING TO TREAT EVERYONE THE SAME WAY. She doesn't. Another coworker that has been no call no show twice that I PERSONALLY knew (meaning, it happened during my shift and someone didn't just tell me), and was no call no show at least two other times. He isnt very good with interacting with customers, while my friend was a customer favourite and someone the green beans felt comfortable asking questions to. Guess what?! That other coworker is still working. He's also getting transferred to another location per his request because he wants a place closer to his house. How is that fucking fair?

There are only two people left from the original team before she arrived at the store to take over as manager (with no prior Starbucks or food service experience by the way!). She has made shift supervisors cry in frustration and stress (and those dudes dont just cry for anything. They keep it together very well most of the time). She's been sitting in the back room right next to the computer screen that shows the camera facing the lobby, with a clearly long line, just chatting away with a shift supervisor about arthritis??? Leaving me (a newer barista), and a green bean on the floor? Did I mention neither of them were on break???

I honestly want to cry and give her a good kick in the shins for everything she's done. I reported her to the company, but I don't feel like it's enough. The original staff all put in complaints to our district manager, and were ignored. It makes me so angry and heartbroken from despair. I rarely complain about things being unfair because that's just how life be sometimes, but it's not fucking fair at all. I could not be happier to be transferring, and I couldn't feel more secretly guilty for transferring locations while my best friend is out a job that they absolutely loved.

Fuck my manager.