Shift got on my case about the score while I was working drive (by myself btw). He specifically said it’s gone down because we weren’t connecting at window. Like??? There is a global pandemic going on my dude? I said this particular customer likes to lean out his window really far and doesn’t wear a mask so Im not comfortable interacting with him more than I have to.


and you know what he did? he started trying to give me talking points (I know how to talk to people guys). Such gems included: ask him about the weather, ask him about sports, compliment his shirt, but we neeeeeed to connneeeecttt at windoooowwwwww. (Spoiler: I asked him exactly zero of those things and just kept taking orders while waiting for his drinks. Shift then proceeded to start taking orders himself in a not at all subtle effort to force me to connect. I did not and it was a pretty icy close, ill tell you that.)


im just getting really frustrated. Despite the copious amounts of bullshit I actually generally like working at my store. I like being on my feet, I like being busy, and I previously really liked that i was able to leave the job at the job. Like I didn’t feel like I was taking the drama home with me.


but that feeling is getting further and further away. There were some unexpected deaths in my immediate family a couple years back and, as a result, I get super anxious and protective over my mom and my little sister because. Well. Yeah. And I just can’t with some of this. Don’t hand me an apple and tell me it’s an orange. Don’t tell me to follow mandated safety precautions and then get upset when, in doing so, the customer maybe has to fart around on their phone for five seconds instead of enduring forced small talk with me. They just want their extra caramel frap with an add shot and their trenta mango dragon fruit no weather sub apple juice. Like dude, they are fine.


or like another thing is I’ll tap the glass at bar or front when someone tries to lean around it - not even rudely just a kind of ‘hey, dude, focus here‘ and we usually end up laughing about it. But I can FEEL the disapproval radiating off this particular shift. no ones had the nerve to actually TALK to me about any of this. I think they’re not really sure what to do with me because, otherwise, I’m a pretty good employee. I just, you know, set some boundaries because death is indiscriminate and permanent and can happen at any time, to anyone, for any reason. But im gonna do my damndest to make sure I am not the one to get what’s left of my family sick. I feel like this is reasonable but starbucks seems to believe otherwise.

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this turned into a rant and I’m sorry about that folks. I’m just tired. I literally have been clocking in to every shift low key wondering if this is the day I walk out and/or get fired. This bullshit is not okay, the world is not normal, and trying not get us all going on like it is is not fair to me, to my fellow partners, or even the customers. Thank you for listening and I hope you all have a good day. Like I genuinely do. stay safe partners.