Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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barista with deteriorating mental and physical health looking for advice (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by lat3spr1ng
so, for some context, I work at one of the busiest stores in my district. we take drive thru, mobile, uber, and cafe orders all at once regardless of the day, do 45-80 drive thru orders in an hour at peak regardless of the day, and are continuously having understaffed shifts even though we just hired 10+ new folks.
I struggle with severe PTSD/general anxiety which was already being triggered at work due to the stress of being a heavy volume store, and was recently injured on the job to the point where I’m required to do physical therapy and see an orthopedic doctor. today was so bad I came home and sobbed in my apron for over 30 minutes because I was in so much pain I couldn’t even take it off even though I was just assigned to DTO and POS all day. we were so understaffed I was doing CS tasks one handed, and the job is making my injury and anxiety worse and worse as time goes on.
the thing is though, I love my team, I can’t drive, and I need this job to survive. I’m paying for hormone treatment and therapy out of pocket. I really have no fucking idea what to do anymore. I know this is an intense amount of stuff to deal with and no normal person knows what to do but I really have no idea who would know better than other baristas. help a guy out if you have any clue what to do, because I really don’t.
I struggle with severe PTSD/general anxiety which was already being triggered at work due to the stress of being a heavy volume store, and was recently injured on the job to the point where I’m required to do physical therapy and see an orthopedic doctor. today was so bad I came home and sobbed in my apron for over 30 minutes because I was in so much pain I couldn’t even take it off even though I was just assigned to DTO and POS all day. we were so understaffed I was doing CS tasks one handed, and the job is making my injury and anxiety worse and worse as time goes on.
the thing is though, I love my team, I can’t drive, and I need this job to survive. I’m paying for hormone treatment and therapy out of pocket. I really have no fucking idea what to do anymore. I know this is an intense amount of stuff to deal with and no normal person knows what to do but I really have no idea who would know better than other baristas. help a guy out if you have any clue what to do, because I really don’t.
jillybeanuwu 3 points 2y ago
You get 20 free therapy sessions through Lyra as a Starbucks employee regardless of how many hours you work. I am so sorry you are going through all of that and I hope that this information helps
lat3spr1ng [OP] 2 points 2y ago
I had no idea! that does help. I’ll look into it.
echowolf9 2 points 2y ago
If you got injured on the job you should definitely contact Sedgwick. If it’s bad enough you can’t work they are supposed to give you worker’s compensation. If you have an approved leave with Sedgwick they legally cannot fire you but they can transfer you to a different store if your current one doesn’t need you anymore.
lat3spr1ng [OP] 1 points 2y ago
I have a workers comp case w them open.
Kindly-Wear-6290 2 points 2y ago
The most important thing for me to remember is that a customers bad moment is not a direct reflection of what I’ve done. There’s literally no reason for people to be assholes over a mistake in a drink and the way they respond is not my problem- I’m fixing it either way and giving either a fake or sincere apology either way so don’t hold their words and let that shit go (especially if you’re not a shift).
Meditating some before I go in has helped me. Taking long deep breaths and telling myself that I can do this and will be amazing really puts me in the right mindset before walking in. Or standing in the back with my head in the freezer because the whole day had gone to hell. You do what you gotta do.
We do get like 20 free sessions with Lyra. I’ve not personally used them but I some people I work with have and it’s been a valuable resource for them. It would definitely be worth looking into.
Don’t use yourself so hard you injure yourself worse. Please be careful and be honest with your shift supervisors and manager. I have a pain condition and some days I’ll just go ahead and take some Advil before I even get there to get ahead of it. Please take care of yourself.
Meditating some before I go in has helped me. Taking long deep breaths and telling myself that I can do this and will be amazing really puts me in the right mindset before walking in. Or standing in the back with my head in the freezer because the whole day had gone to hell. You do what you gotta do.
We do get like 20 free sessions with Lyra. I’ve not personally used them but I some people I work with have and it’s been a valuable resource for them. It would definitely be worth looking into.
Don’t use yourself so hard you injure yourself worse. Please be careful and be honest with your shift supervisors and manager. I have a pain condition and some days I’ll just go ahead and take some Advil before I even get there to get ahead of it. Please take care of yourself.
carameldrizzll 2 points 2y ago
QUIT!
lat3spr1ng [OP] 4 points 2y ago
I wish I could! I really can’t quit or even take a durated leave because everywhere else in my town pays even worse and is unsafe for trans and/or disabled people. this is the best opportunity I have and it’s killing me.
carameldrizzll 2 points 2y ago
This job isn’t good for my mental health, i cant imagine having it be bad for my physical health too. You deserve better, look for a different job before you put in your two weeks. At the end of the day its just starbucks, a fast food restaurant. I know it may not be easy to look for a new job, but the amount of stress you get from working here is not worth the minimum wage. Try to see if any clothing stores are hiring, they should be less stressful (super boring) but it wont put as much of a strain on your mental and physical health.
lat3spr1ng [OP] 1 points 2y ago
thank you. I’ll see if anywhere nearby that is hiring will pay better or the same because that’s one of my biggest issues truly. it really is just a job, but it gets hard to remember that when there’s so much pressure to be good at something that is so hard. I hope your mental health improves too, because I don’t know a single partner who isn’t also struggling with it in one way or another now.
medusas-garden 1 points 2y ago
Maybe look into taking a medical leave of absence. You’ll still get paid and it sounds like your issues are bad enough to warrant that. I’m not an expert but I’d do some research. One of my fellow shifts has been on disability leave for two months now after he had a mental breakdown on the floor (which could’ve been avoided if management actually listened to him but whatever)
lat3spr1ng [OP] 1 points 2y ago
I had a breakdown on the floor a couple weeks ago. my team was pretty good about it and my manager was nice enough to drive me home once her shift was over but I really haven’t fully recovered from that either. I agree with you that it’s probably warranted, and I’ll ask about it/do some research esp since i’ve already got a workers comp case open. thank you so much for sharing this seriously!!
lat3spr1ng [OP] 1 points 2y ago
also worth noting; I’m a 299 and have been with starbucks for 4 months now and still struggle with a lot of things true veteran partners have a strong grip of, but because we have so many new people I’ve literally been training people on register and drive multiple times. I keep getting put in a position that makes me feel like I’m really shitty at my job (and customers certainly treat me that way) but I’m really just a teenager and am not prepared to be treated like I know what I’m doing, but there’s no real way to say that because I’ll just get put back into situations where they need people who understand how starbucks runs and what to do. it’s really really destroying my self worth on top of everything.
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