**little vent ahead**

So last week a member of our night shift tested positive for covid and for context we’ve been block scheduling for months due to our store shutting down more than 4 times since this whole pandemic started. So only us openers/day-shifters are able to work while the rest of the crew get covid test results.

Our store hours changed to 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays and 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekends. Most of us openers have never closed before so we’ve all be pretty stressed learning how to close while also dealing with 3 times more than our usual customer flow.

We’ve ALL been cursed out by different customers for closing so much earlier or opening an hour later. We are all also extremely tired. This past week I’ve gone from my normal 27-30 hours a week to 40 hours.

Now this morning we’re working fine until one of my coworkers suddenly breaks down while on our cafe/mobile order bar and runs into the back crying from the stress of having a full lobby staring at them making drinks. I felt so bad watching them rush to the back in tears because I had almost done that the day before and knew exactly how they felt. When they came back they were put onto cold bar with me and they were working very well. Unfortunately because they were already stressed before breaking down they kept dropping stuff and making a huge mess. Later I was going on my ten and saw them in the back trying to fill ice and decided to ask if they were ok when they suddenly started crying so I gave them a hug and tried to let them know that it’s ok.

I just really can’t believe the shit us baristas go through daily. I’ve also gained an appreciation for my store’s closers and I’m so ready to get back to regular hours tomorrow.