Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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rift between closers and openers with lots of other stuff happening (wall of text i apologize) (advice needed) (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by wldflwrheart
so i want to present this in the most unbiased way i can but there's so much happening. so! i'll start off by saying hi, i'm a stbx ssv, partner for 4 years, shift for two and a half. lots of mixed feelings about my job but for the sake of my coworkers, i show up and do my best every day (and i have been told by people that i'm successful in that endeavor).
also, two years ago about, i convinced my best friend since 7th grade to come work with me, because she really needed a job and i knew that my manager trusts me enough that she'd hire her. and she did! and it's been good, she's a good barista and she also became a shift about a year ago.
but right now as a store, we're very gridlocked with block scheduling. i'm the primary opener, but i used to be the closing shift 5/7 nights a week so i'm super passionate about not letting there be a rift between the two blocks and being understanding about rough closes. there are about three main closers, my friend being one of them. i think of opening shift as a trade off, pass on a nice store and in return, all i ask is that people try their best for the close. i know it's impossible to be perfect all the time. honestly, 95% of the time, the closes are good, so i don't say much about the bad closes.
but today was like, weird and crazy in the morning. i worked my ass off to get big stuff, like floors, bathrooms, drains, a toddy, a giant food pull, put away the order from last night, and got a trash run done. and passing off the shift, i knew i hadn't restocked in a while, but i thought like, y'know, hey, all the big stuff is done. no sooner do i get home than i get a text from my friend in our shift group chat, saying the store is a disaster and she's frustrated that nothing is stocked and that it's unfair closers have to inherit a store that isn't always in great shape. sigh.
idk. i used to close. i fully understand walking into a disaster. but i really don't think that other than needing some milk and lids, it was really that bad. things were chaotic, it was busy, i know. but i also like... as a closer, you're coming into a store that's been open for 8+ hours. i can't treat the block switch like a close and suddenly get everything absolutely spotless so it's like the closers are coming into the clean, beautiful store they left at close. it's how the job works. and i truly cannot understand the animosity, as i've tried to make it very clear that i do not ever expect to walk in at 4:30am and see a perfect store.
and it's all just compounded by the fact that its my friend who decided to go off on me. i went on a two week vacation last month and my store was left with the one other opener, the other closers literally texted me shit like "please come back you actually get shit done for us" so like, i know i do not suck at my job. i usually pass off a pretty good store. but like. how do y'all heal your rifts like this? or how do y'all deal with working with friends when things like this happen? i honestly just. don't have the mental capacity to fight or deal with it that much but like, i also do not accept slander over one imperfect day. idk, maybe i'm an asshole? i honestly have no idea anymore.
just let me know any thoughts you have i guess
also, two years ago about, i convinced my best friend since 7th grade to come work with me, because she really needed a job and i knew that my manager trusts me enough that she'd hire her. and she did! and it's been good, she's a good barista and she also became a shift about a year ago.
but right now as a store, we're very gridlocked with block scheduling. i'm the primary opener, but i used to be the closing shift 5/7 nights a week so i'm super passionate about not letting there be a rift between the two blocks and being understanding about rough closes. there are about three main closers, my friend being one of them. i think of opening shift as a trade off, pass on a nice store and in return, all i ask is that people try their best for the close. i know it's impossible to be perfect all the time. honestly, 95% of the time, the closes are good, so i don't say much about the bad closes.
but today was like, weird and crazy in the morning. i worked my ass off to get big stuff, like floors, bathrooms, drains, a toddy, a giant food pull, put away the order from last night, and got a trash run done. and passing off the shift, i knew i hadn't restocked in a while, but i thought like, y'know, hey, all the big stuff is done. no sooner do i get home than i get a text from my friend in our shift group chat, saying the store is a disaster and she's frustrated that nothing is stocked and that it's unfair closers have to inherit a store that isn't always in great shape. sigh.
idk. i used to close. i fully understand walking into a disaster. but i really don't think that other than needing some milk and lids, it was really that bad. things were chaotic, it was busy, i know. but i also like... as a closer, you're coming into a store that's been open for 8+ hours. i can't treat the block switch like a close and suddenly get everything absolutely spotless so it's like the closers are coming into the clean, beautiful store they left at close. it's how the job works. and i truly cannot understand the animosity, as i've tried to make it very clear that i do not ever expect to walk in at 4:30am and see a perfect store.
and it's all just compounded by the fact that its my friend who decided to go off on me. i went on a two week vacation last month and my store was left with the one other opener, the other closers literally texted me shit like "please come back you actually get shit done for us" so like, i know i do not suck at my job. i usually pass off a pretty good store. but like. how do y'all heal your rifts like this? or how do y'all deal with working with friends when things like this happen? i honestly just. don't have the mental capacity to fight or deal with it that much but like, i also do not accept slander over one imperfect day. idk, maybe i'm an asshole? i honestly have no idea anymore.
just let me know any thoughts you have i guess
plushiequeenaspen 10 points 2y ago
I was a closer, and then an opener, and now I close again with over three years total. I'm licensed now, but I started in corporate.
**As an opener:** the bare minimum I need night crew to do is clean and reset. I can restock pretty quick as long as everything is clean. Need some milk in the fridge and a couple sleeves of cups? No problem. Are there still dirty dishes and the blender house is missing? That's an issue.
**As a closer:** I don't care if everything is fully stocked, just make sure I've got *something* on the floor, and for the love of siren do your own dishes. I can't clean and stock and take care of customers and do all of the dishes from open to close with only three partners in the store, while also having to run breaks and realistically only having two people on the floor.
It doesn't have to be perfect, but I can always tell when they tried to get stuff done vs when they said "fuck it, AM/PM can deal." I try my best to set up the other day part for success, and I think it's reasonable to expect that in return. When I work open/mids, I think it's fair to have whoever is leaving do a quick restock before they go. If each person who leaves restocks something (cups/lids, milks, refreshers), then we're usually pretty well stocked for when night crew comes in. If morning sets us up well for close, then I can have everything cleaned and restocked for y'all in the morning again.
I think it would be a good idea to have a chat with all the shifts. Lay out expectations, and let them know what you want them to prioritize. That way if shit hits the fan, you can get the bare minimum done and the next shift will be okay.
**As an opener:** the bare minimum I need night crew to do is clean and reset. I can restock pretty quick as long as everything is clean. Need some milk in the fridge and a couple sleeves of cups? No problem. Are there still dirty dishes and the blender house is missing? That's an issue.
**As a closer:** I don't care if everything is fully stocked, just make sure I've got *something* on the floor, and for the love of siren do your own dishes. I can't clean and stock and take care of customers and do all of the dishes from open to close with only three partners in the store, while also having to run breaks and realistically only having two people on the floor.
It doesn't have to be perfect, but I can always tell when they tried to get stuff done vs when they said "fuck it, AM/PM can deal." I try my best to set up the other day part for success, and I think it's reasonable to expect that in return. When I work open/mids, I think it's fair to have whoever is leaving do a quick restock before they go. If each person who leaves restocks something (cups/lids, milks, refreshers), then we're usually pretty well stocked for when night crew comes in. If morning sets us up well for close, then I can have everything cleaned and restocked for y'all in the morning again.
I think it would be a good idea to have a chat with all the shifts. Lay out expectations, and let them know what you want them to prioritize. That way if shit hits the fan, you can get the bare minimum done and the next shift will be okay.
plushiequeenaspen 2 points 2y ago
The only time that I as a closer got really pissed at open and mid was when I came in and *nothing* was done. I mean literally nothing. At my location, mids are supposed to do pulls and cold brew, openers make whips and mocha etc because they have a full hour to open.
I came in at 4pm, and I had to make cold brew, make kegs, make whips and sweet cream and lemonade, do the sandwich and pastry pulls, catch up on all the dishes from the whole day, restock literally everything, and to top it all off, someone left the scoop in the ice machine, so I had to empty the damn thing. (It was lucky we still had bags of ice in the freezer from when the machine broke.) I was alone for the first hour that I was there, and there were only two of us from 5pm-close, and the customers were nonstop the whole night. We left late and still couldn't get everything done.
I came in at 4pm, and I had to make cold brew, make kegs, make whips and sweet cream and lemonade, do the sandwich and pastry pulls, catch up on all the dishes from the whole day, restock literally everything, and to top it all off, someone left the scoop in the ice machine, so I had to empty the damn thing. (It was lucky we still had bags of ice in the freezer from when the machine broke.) I was alone for the first hour that I was there, and there were only two of us from 5pm-close, and the customers were nonstop the whole night. We left late and still couldn't get everything done.
wldflwrheart [OP] 3 points 2y ago
i totally remember those closing nights! and i've had shifts in my shifting career text me like, melting down, saying it's a crazy busy night and they don't know what they're gonna do and they're so sorry--i think, aside from one girl melting down about having effed up the deposit, every time i have said "absolutely no big deal, i will deal with whatever in the morning, please just focus on the money and locking the doors". i have the confidence as a shift to tackle a bad close in the morning and still pull off a good peak. i am truly unconcerned. maybe don't leave, like, a puddle of rotting milk? maybe that's my bare minimum.
i knew i didn't have much stocked today, but it truly was kind of a weirdly, obscenely busy monday, and our sales were reflecting that. i've asked the closing shifts before what sets them up the best and the main thing i heard was finishing all mid day multistation tasks (that card) and taking care of making toddies for the next day. obviously we would all love to do it all. same goes for closes. but the way i see it, my understanding on bad closes should go both ways for a one-off apparent bad store handoff.
i knew i didn't have much stocked today, but it truly was kind of a weirdly, obscenely busy monday, and our sales were reflecting that. i've asked the closing shifts before what sets them up the best and the main thing i heard was finishing all mid day multistation tasks (that card) and taking care of making toddies for the next day. obviously we would all love to do it all. same goes for closes. but the way i see it, my understanding on bad closes should go both ways for a one-off apparent bad store handoff.
plushiequeenaspen 1 points 2y ago
If it's just an occasional X and Y didn't get done, then I'm not bothered. But if A through Z are not done, or it's a regular occurrence for X and Y to not be done, then we have an issue, regardless of which shift it is.
Kinda sounds like this was a one-off bad day for your store, in which case someone getting mad is an overreaction, especially if the numbers show how crazy the day was. Like yeah it sucks, but it's gonna happen occasionally.
Kinda sounds like this was a one-off bad day for your store, in which case someone getting mad is an overreaction, especially if the numbers show how crazy the day was. Like yeah it sucks, but it's gonna happen occasionally.
jams1015 2 points 2y ago
Y'all get an HOUR to open? Luxury! I'm so jealous.
plushiequeenaspen 2 points 2y ago
Licensed, so only one opener in that hour. But I did work at a corporate store that got 45 minutes to open because of how high volume they were. We needed two pitchers of every tea and two full curtises of iced coffee (plus like four extra cubes) before peak. Plus there were three espresso machines and daily milk deliveries. Shit was wild lol
Fun-Macaron-9007 8 points 2y ago
Hey, former SM here. Literally just quit.
So the difficulty in this situation is a misunderstanding of what is expected. At my store, I had a meeting with both blocks on a zoom call and we came to a consensus about what was expected. Closing block cared more about being fully stocked with no dirty dishes. Opening block cared more about the store being clean because we are so slow for the first hour that stocking is easy: I took that feedback, got everyone to agree that if what they had asked to get done GOT done that no one was allowed to complain about the other stuff. We agreed, signed a “store constitution” and I laminated a task list they signed off on. After that we never dealt with this issue again.
Also, it’s really all corporate’s fault for being money grubbing misers who refuse to admit that the pandemic dramatically increased our workload but they did not dramatically increase our payroll. We get mad at each other, but our anger should be directed at corporate. Every busy corporate store should have a minimum nine person peak and four person close with six coming in on closing block. Anything less is insulting.
So the difficulty in this situation is a misunderstanding of what is expected. At my store, I had a meeting with both blocks on a zoom call and we came to a consensus about what was expected. Closing block cared more about being fully stocked with no dirty dishes. Opening block cared more about the store being clean because we are so slow for the first hour that stocking is easy: I took that feedback, got everyone to agree that if what they had asked to get done GOT done that no one was allowed to complain about the other stuff. We agreed, signed a “store constitution” and I laminated a task list they signed off on. After that we never dealt with this issue again.
Also, it’s really all corporate’s fault for being money grubbing misers who refuse to admit that the pandemic dramatically increased our workload but they did not dramatically increase our payroll. We get mad at each other, but our anger should be directed at corporate. Every busy corporate store should have a minimum nine person peak and four person close with six coming in on closing block. Anything less is insulting.
HengroenAndLlamrei 2 points 2y ago
Is it only your friend who is upset? The problem with working with friends or family, I’ve found, is it erases the line of professionalism so the good—and bad—get amplified.
I’d start with open communication. Find out if it was really the store that upset them, or if they had a bad day/personal issues and took it out on you, their friend, as an emotional punching bag.
If it was indeed the store, detail what you DID accomplish, the busy circumstances, and your expectations for the store you inherit/leave behind. Ask them their expectations and what specifically wasn’t up to par. See if you two can come to a mutual understanding. If everyone believes the other team did their best and wasn’t just being lazy/inconsiderate, in the future they can hopefully attribute the occasional rough store to circumstance and not failure.
If that all fails, go up the chain. It’s the job of a supervisor to shut down animosity and keep team morale up.
I’d start with open communication. Find out if it was really the store that upset them, or if they had a bad day/personal issues and took it out on you, their friend, as an emotional punching bag.
If it was indeed the store, detail what you DID accomplish, the busy circumstances, and your expectations for the store you inherit/leave behind. Ask them their expectations and what specifically wasn’t up to par. See if you two can come to a mutual understanding. If everyone believes the other team did their best and wasn’t just being lazy/inconsiderate, in the future they can hopefully attribute the occasional rough store to circumstance and not failure.
If that all fails, go up the chain. It’s the job of a supervisor to shut down animosity and keep team morale up.
wldflwrheart [OP] 1 points 2y ago
no other shift though, has ever actually complained to me about the store they inherited from me, and since i haven't been told by my manager to change anything and do certain things for closers instead, i assume no one has talked with my manager about how i pass off the store either.
wldflwrheart [OP] 1 points 2y ago
i did worry about stuff like this when she started working with me, but it hasn't caused too many problems thus far. since we work different blocks it's usually a non-issue.
i've always thought that what i did was the expectation, i remember asking a few months ago what closers wanted from me and the general consensus was the big stuff that i did accomplish, and i truly don't like leaving the store if they're not done. i left in good conscious today, until i got the text. in my response, i did ask if she'd like me to shift my focus away from accomplishing those things to stocking, but received no answer (she's working, she's on the floor, so okay).
i've always thought that what i did was the expectation, i remember asking a few months ago what closers wanted from me and the general consensus was the big stuff that i did accomplish, and i truly don't like leaving the store if they're not done. i left in good conscious today, until i got the text. in my response, i did ask if she'd like me to shift my focus away from accomplishing those things to stocking, but received no answer (she's working, she's on the floor, so okay).
NotMyElephants 1 points 2y ago
As a closing shift, and I havent opened in over a year, Id very much prefer coming into things being stocked, and ovens done, maybe a light cleaning (i.e. everything isnt sticky and wet, at least wiped down). Drains, etc I can get to on breakdown but I have less than half the staff than AM does, to deal with the same numbers of customers if not more. If Im running out of everything during the afternoon peak, which for us is 230-5 and usually when I walk in for my shift, while Im also running a 2-3 person floor, Im gonna be livid. I don't have the spare person to go make mocha, as its needed then, bc theres none, or whips, or anything.Many times I also dont have the time to walk the store to figure out what AM didn't do, before they all start the "can I go?" chorus.... So I can understand the aggravation and feeling like its a disaster. However that said, there's better ways to handle it and going in group text is lowkey rude.
Huge_Crab_7425 1 points 2y ago
If someone comes for me in the group chat, I ignore them because it’s obvious they just want to embarrass me. If you communicated what you weren’t able to get done at the hand off and the shift said it was okay, then that’s that.
At my store though we genuinely have some terrible SSVs who don’t know what they are doing even after being a shift for a year and their job expectations explained to them 5 times so I honestly can’t blame the other block for having beef, but it’s crazy inappropriate for people to text you on vacation about how the other SSVs suck. I’d shut that down tell my SM about the issue so they can deal with it.
At my store though we genuinely have some terrible SSVs who don’t know what they are doing even after being a shift for a year and their job expectations explained to them 5 times so I honestly can’t blame the other block for having beef, but it’s crazy inappropriate for people to text you on vacation about how the other SSVs suck. I’d shut that down tell my SM about the issue so they can deal with it.
jones_mrgrt 1 points 2y ago
Was it super busy for close too?
It might be an overreaction because she was also stressed/had a crazy shift. The friend dynamic might make it easier (although not right) for her frustrations to land on you (often folks can get angrier with friends/family because they know they'll be forgiven).
It might be an overreaction because she was also stressed/had a crazy shift. The friend dynamic might make it easier (although not right) for her frustrations to land on you (often folks can get angrier with friends/family because they know they'll be forgiven).
MrsOceanGrown 1 points 2y ago
I know that feeling when you come on shift and can’t even make a drink because you have to get your self non dairy milk, venti iced cups, and venti cold flat lids on your bar. Things always get better is what i tell myself and it does. I also agree with the other reditter about working with friends.
But my take on this would be, listen to you partners fully, respond with empathy and explain your situation with facts, and move on from it.
Also, not sure if you guys have the am-mid-pm station cards, but the stocking up should have been done by the people at those stations! What was everyone else doing while you busted out all the prep and deep cleaned? Making drinks and then standing around?
And one last point. Next time you hand her off a shift, instead of doing all that extra prep, stock everything up beautifully. When you transition, tell that shift, “I know you’d prefer for you to have everything stocked and ready to start your shift, so we got that done. you’ll just have to do all this other prep and cleaning! K bye!”
But my take on this would be, listen to you partners fully, respond with empathy and explain your situation with facts, and move on from it.
Also, not sure if you guys have the am-mid-pm station cards, but the stocking up should have been done by the people at those stations! What was everyone else doing while you busted out all the prep and deep cleaned? Making drinks and then standing around?
And one last point. Next time you hand her off a shift, instead of doing all that extra prep, stock everything up beautifully. When you transition, tell that shift, “I know you’d prefer for you to have everything stocked and ready to start your shift, so we got that done. you’ll just have to do all this other prep and cleaning! K bye!”
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