This is going to be long, but I thought I'd share my experience.

My last day working at Starbucks was a couple weeks before my due date.

I found out I was pregnant earlier on in the year and was already thinking about finding another job to get myself through college. The environment was ridiculous. Setting aside how busy it always was (that part of it never bothered me, I love working), it was the treatment I received as an employee.

I had already been in food service for three (almost 4) years when I started working at Starbucks. By the time I left, I had been in food service for 5 years.

Before working at Starbucks, I worked at a sub shop and I worked at a restaurant. I left the restaurant when it started to tank. I would leave work after five hours with fifteen dollars in tips...sometimes none because there were no customers. I'm not joking. I was sent home on numerous occasions, and when I wasn't, I didn't make enough money to pay for school or bills, so I decided to try out Starbucks. My brother worked there, and he seemed to enjoy it well enough. I thought what the heck, I'll try it out.

I never should have gone to Starbucks.

I think the only good thing I can say about working there is the fact that part time employees can get benefits, and I am thankful to have been able to receive paid maternity leave. It is the only reason I stayed.

On to the nightmare that was my experience.

The store location I worked at was one of the busiest in my area. Part of that is because in a town which is growing in population exponentially, it is the only Starbucks within a 20 minute radius in every direction...actually, if you go South, the next Starbucks is about 45 minutes away. You can already see the problem here.

On top of having an extremely high volume, the employees don't get paid well, and the staffing was pretty terrible outside of the morning "rush hour." The reason for this is because the time it takes in drive thru in the morning affected the general manager's bonus pay. So, you know. Screw the night shift over by only scheduling two employees and a supervisor when we still get crazy rushes because we're the only Starbucks location in this town...

Obviously, this turned into a ripple effect for cleanliness, teamwork, the atmosphere in the store. It all went downhill, and I know for a fact the downward slope started long before I came. When I first started, there was a "mass exodus," which left us even more understaffed for about three months. Honestly, it was part of the reason I told myself to stick it out. "It won't be so nightmarish when we have enough employees." "It'll be cleaner." "It'll be easier to find coverage when I'm SICK."

Which leads me to my next complaint.

I should have quit when one of the supervisors came to work with THE FLU. She said she couldn't just call out or she'd be written up...

This is the first place I have every worked where someone is sick in food service and is not SENT THE FUCK HOME. WHAT. EVEN?!

And then I found out I was pregnant. I caught a really bad stomach virus my first trimester. I called out for one shift because 1. I'm not going to come to work and spread my germs to customers and coworkers and 2. I was shitting diarrhea constantly, felt nauseous and I had insane cramps because my pregnancy made all of my symptoms even worse. It was this vicious cycle.

I got the rest of my shifts covered that week.

I should have gotten a doctors note. I went to the doctor. I didn't get a note. And I felt super stupid for not getting a note, but in the previous food service places I worked... if you were sick...of you had a fever, you felt nauseous, you had diarrhea, you lost your voice, you. Went. Home. And you didn't come back until you were better.

My GM wrote me up...

Honestly, I would have understood if I had called out for a bunch of shifts. But I had called out for one and I got the rest covered. And the reason I got written up is because I "didn't show up for more than half of my scheduled shifts."

NO SHIT. I'M SICK. HAVE YOU NOT TAKEN A FUCKING FOOD SAFETY TEST?! WHO ARE YOU?!?! HOW ARE YOU IN FOOD SERVICE?!

Again, I should have brought a note. I also didn't think my GM who had always worked in food service would write me up for giving away my shifts when I'm shitting my liquidated stomach out.



I would love to go on. There's so much shit that I have to say about Starbucks. I don't even buy their coffee anymore. Not that I was a huge Starbucks person before, but I'm definitely not now.

I will never recommend someone work there.

And now, with the pandemic going on...I'm so thankful I had my baby last year and that I'm not in the middle of THAT shitshow.