Hired at the Bux in 2014, took a year off when I moved, and came back, this year would have been my sixth. When I first started working at SB it was a wonderful job with, mostly, great people, solid benefits, and I felt I'd be moving up soon. When I moved in 2017, I worked in my new location for a while, but I was so stressed I decided to leave on good terms, in case I ever wanted to work at SB again. I came back in 2018, the culture itself felt different, faster times and uncomfortable customer connections, combined into a monstrous force, bearing down on everyone. This issue was not helped by having a outside hire for a SM.

I pointed out to my new SM that customer connections are earned, not dispensed with a certain catchphrase or secret social code. When faced with this logic, her answer is to "Try harder." I did, I kicked up my customer service skills to Build-a-Bear level of excellence, then Covid hit. My store closed for about 2-3 months. Everybody lost hours, people lost their health insurance, during a pandemic, like me. I'm just honestly tired of working for a company so focused on happy customers, they forget their employees, the Board themselves do not want ground-level-barista representation. I do not want to work for a company, charging premium prices, for a sub-par product. I do not want to work for a company, who owns Nestle. My hands are dry, my eyes are streaming with tears, customers yell at any inconvenience, my mental health will never be the same and my physical health is more important than coffee.

I hope to go back to school and get my degree (ASU doesn't offer the degree I want), heal, and recover from SB culture as a whole.