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Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind

Full History - 2020 - 05 - 20 - ID#gn835s
71
This job makes me want to kill myself (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by atlantiic
Tw: gun/robbery

Yes, before we start I am going to therapy but no amount of therapy can save me from how I feel about this job.
We had an attempted robbery last Sunday in the drive thru while I was the closing shift. A man pulled a gun on the teenage barista I had in drive and luckily she ran away and he drove off before the cops came. However I had to walk her out of the panic attack that followed, deal with the asshole cop and calm down the other 3 partners in the store. My manager and temp. DM came an hour later but said I had to still close down the store. So I had to make everyone, other than the girl at the window, continue to work but I let them go home a little early and I finished the floors. No help from my manager.
We all feel terrible for the girl who was at the window and she hasn’t left her house since. The amount of guilt I feel is beyond what I can explain here, because I wish it were me and not the teenage girl who is also missing her graduation this year. However, no one in the store has asked how I am doing and I feel selfish for this but it hurts. My SM let me take the next day off and asked me how I was doing but that was the last of it, she said a therapist from Lyra was coming but he has yet to show. At our store meeting, in front of everyone, she said “Yes that was bad day but you weren’t at the window, so and so was and we a hope she’s doing okay” and I was like cool, cause before the cops showed we all thought he was going to jump through the window and we were all cowering in the back so of course I don’t have PTSD from that, and it’s totally cool to say we don’t have any trauma in front of other people!
I’ve fucking had it. I broke down to my boyfriend because I said that if I had just quit years ago, like I’ve wanted to, I wouldn’t be in this situation. We’ve had a line around the building since I’ve come back and all
my manager can do is walk on the floor and ask why cars are red. She schedules me to close with 2 people and than has me in at 7am the next day, when I’ve already told her not to do this. And then when I come in she tells me I can’t leave the store looking like however I left it and that I should stay as long as it takes even after I had already stayed an hour and a half after closing.
And the thing is, I’ve worked in 3 different states at 7 different store and it’s all the same shit. This isn’t my third place because there are a thousand other places I’d rather be. I hate our regulars and I’ve almost never enjoy talking to a single one of our customers. My coworkers, not partners, are catty and mean. I’m only here because I live in the US and can’t afford health insurance without so I’m fucked.
This job has chewed me up and spit me out and nothing about it has made me a better person. I’m bitter and angery and I’m told it’s my fault when I’ve been called a bitch more times I can count by customers and the homeless people who shoot up in the bathroom who I have to kick out.
I just wish corporate would stop pretending that this job was gods gift to this earth. It’s soul crushing and I would never urge anyone to apply.
OhHi- 27 points 3y ago
This is so wrong. I was robbed at knifepoint working at Starbucks years ago and the company handled it very well. Gave me and the other person working a couple days off paid, sent us home immediately, closed the store for the afternoon, brought in counsellors for us, and adjusted our hours for a few months so neither of us had to open or close.

I am SO sorry you had to go through this. Is there any way you can communicate with your sm and dm about how much this affected you? Maybe they think you were ok afterwards? Even so, they should have handled this so, so differently.

As for the job as a whole, you shouldn’t work somewhere that sucks the soul out of you. Everyone needs to work, and working can suck, but there will be jobs that you don’t feel like u would rather get a root canal then going there.
atlantiic [OP] 12 points 3y ago
Thank you for the advice. I honestly thought I’ve been overreacting but I haven’t been able to sleep properly for almost 2 weeks. I will discuss this with her now that I feel a little more confident in my reaction.
Since than, me and the other 3 people on the shift have not only been continuing to work the same schedule but when they ask to not be put on drive because they’re not comfortable (if I’m the shift I won’t put them on drive but I have no control otherwise)they were told that if they can’t preform the job than they need to apply for a leave of absence. Seriously considering just doing this as a form of malicious compliance.
OhHi- 8 points 3y ago
You are not overreacting. I was literally scared to put the patio furniture out during an open for about a year when it was dark out because I was scared We would get robbed again.

This is traumatizing stuff. Not just for the girl in DT, but for everyone working as well. You realize “wow that could have been me” and “you don’t just hear about this stuff, it actually happens”. Maybe your manager and dm should use their brains and figure out a way to make everyone feel more secure after this.
chinfox 7 points 3y ago
Your SM sounds shitty. I’m so sorry that you’ve been put in that position and don’t feel supported in any way at all. We aren’t equipped to deal with serious trauma, and certainly not in the workplace (nevermind the pandemic), all of those feelings you’re having seem totally warranted.
_Pulltab_ 4 points 3y ago
That’s really fucked up. I’m sorry that you’re feeling so overwhelmed and stuck. It sucks.
JCaligirl420 3 points 3y ago
I’m so sorry you’re feeling this and that you had to go through this. The last 2 weeks have been the hardest I’ve ever dealt with and I’m a 4 year partner. We have a partner that was running a fever for days, yet we stayed open, another store in our area closed for 2 days because they had a partner that was sick. Like wtf why are they closing one store but keeping the other one open. We have a line wrapped all day very day, we don’t have enough partners, my partners and myself have been working 10+ hour days, this is not acceptable.
stillawindmill 3 points 3y ago
Don’t worry about your reaction being an “overreaction” those are your honest feelings about a traumatic event that has happened to you and you have every right to feel the way you do and your employer needs to accommodate for that
Theotar 3 points 3y ago
Sounds like you got a dumb manager. Call out partner contact center to explain the situations that's been happening. They will get investigations going on how things are being handled.
RyderDie1999 2 points 3y ago
Please please put a trigger warning on this. I know it doesn't matter to some but there are some who have experienced similar trauma who this may stir up some unwanted feelings with.

In reference to the actual post I completely understand feeling like you were fine and then realizing you might not be. We had a drive by at my store back in December but we didn't know that it was that until after the fact. I thought I was coping well and moving past it until we had a group of police outside the store making an arrest for something unrelated to us (they pulled into our parking lot to not block traffic). There were roughly 10 officers and I handled the business side by calling my manager to let her know what was going on and making sure nothing happened in our lot that I needed to make an incident report and then suddenly I felt like I couldn't breathe and I was having a panic attack. It was an extreme trigger for me to see so many police outside of the store again. Trauma is hard to recover from, especially when it's tied to a place that you have to keep going back to.

If your SM and DM are unresponsive maybe consider reaching out to your Regional. Obviously it's a last resort but if nothing else is working it never hurts and depending on who they are it may help shift things not only for your current situation but in the future.
atlantiic [OP] 2 points 3y ago
Sorry about that, I honestly was in such an emotional state when I wrote this and I hadn’t even considered a trigger warning so I just added one.
We have a new dm and I just got to talk to him and he actually seems amazing and he experienced something similar. It’s just hard when everyone on your floor and the SM just don’t seem to care.
cancerofcolor 2 points 3y ago
I’m sorry this is happening to you. A little over 2 years ago, another barista and I were on the floor when a man came into the cafe and attempted to rob us threatening he had a gun. It was horrifying. Fortunately we got to go home for the rest of the day after dealing with the cops and whatnot but my SM and shift on duty that morning handled the whole situation terribly. They weren’t mindful of the trauma we just experienced at all and were eager to open ASAP. And now whenever my SM or other partners bring the robbery incident up it’s talked about as a funny joke? Or like a crazy, funny incident that just so happened.
[deleted] 2 points 3y ago
Hey I am so sorry all of this is happening to you. Working is so complicated and upsetting. We have to or we can’t pay our bills, but we like the pockets of billionaires while they treat us like shit, also there’s no jobs rn so there’s that

My heart seriously goes out to you and I am so sorry about everything you’re going through
atlantiic [OP] 3 points 3y ago
Thank you, it’s been really rough. Every time I think this job can’t get any worse it does :/
[deleted] 2 points 3y ago
I get it I’m on my ten rn crying lol I don’t wanna go back in hehe
nerdheartRN 1 points 3y ago
Hun, I left. Yes you can get heal insurance. At our pay, we can get cheap plans with a subsidy.

I'm paying $36 a month for comparable insurance with Cigna, with a subsidy.
[deleted] 1 points 3y ago
[removed]
atlantiic [OP] 1 points 3y ago
Really? Do you live in California?
nerdheartRN 1 points 3y ago
Florida but you should still qualify it's a federal subsidy.
sillaf27 1 points 3y ago
My advice would be to ditch the drive through and go to a cafe only location.
atlantiic [OP] 2 points 3y ago
I used to only work in cafe stores, unfortunately I’ve found it’s the same everywhere :/
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