Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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I was told to ignore mold (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by turquoisturtle
So, story time. My store has a weird day versus night dynamic that's been going on since the arrival of a certain shift.
The store environment has become so toxic that half of the night crew quit.
It's mostly day shift talking crap about night shift, but night shift gets fed up and does say things back. I know this because I have open availability and get to work all shifts.
Lucky me.
Day shift complaints are they are not set up for success and that certain cleaning tasks are sometimes missed, ( back trash can , dishes left in Hobart, missing a spoon on bar) and a few things will be not dated or changed over if we're short-handed on the weekends.
Night shift is fed up because they come into a store that's a wreck, floors might or might not have been done, half the time dishes haven't been done, usually no backups, nothing has been stocked, and they have 4 people to close busiest store in district, near hospital, so even nights are steady.
So that's the background, back to my story. So I was on bar and while getting ice for a drink when I pulled back the lid on the ice I noticed there was some mold around the top. I went over and called the attention of the shift to it. He said he was aware of it. And that it was night crews responsibility. I was then sent on my break, when I got back from my break I saw they were still using ice bin (!)
I requested to be allowed to clean out the ice bin. It seemed like a no-brainer because, duh, you don't want mold anything near where you're serving drinks. He again denies it and gets upset with me for requesting it, and again says it's nights responsibility, they have to do it. And I'm thinking "But, like, there's mold in there right NOW?"
I was then told if I wanted to do an extra task I could clean the syrup risers. Which I did.
Now mind you, this is the same shift who will come in on his time off drive into the fast food restaurant next to us to and sit in parking lot and take notes on what partners are doing.
Weird
My point is it's just strange he was so obsessed with making night crew do it that he was willing to allow this mold to be in the ice bins especially when he had someone asking to be able to clean it.
This has literally been bugging me for weeks and I almost think I should quit because this toxicity is over the top.
( The reason I haven't said anything official is this shift has a well-documented history of getting people fired if they get on their bad side)
WDYT
The store environment has become so toxic that half of the night crew quit.
It's mostly day shift talking crap about night shift, but night shift gets fed up and does say things back. I know this because I have open availability and get to work all shifts.
Lucky me.
Day shift complaints are they are not set up for success and that certain cleaning tasks are sometimes missed, ( back trash can , dishes left in Hobart, missing a spoon on bar) and a few things will be not dated or changed over if we're short-handed on the weekends.
Night shift is fed up because they come into a store that's a wreck, floors might or might not have been done, half the time dishes haven't been done, usually no backups, nothing has been stocked, and they have 4 people to close busiest store in district, near hospital, so even nights are steady.
So that's the background, back to my story. So I was on bar and while getting ice for a drink when I pulled back the lid on the ice I noticed there was some mold around the top. I went over and called the attention of the shift to it. He said he was aware of it. And that it was night crews responsibility. I was then sent on my break, when I got back from my break I saw they were still using ice bin (!)
I requested to be allowed to clean out the ice bin. It seemed like a no-brainer because, duh, you don't want mold anything near where you're serving drinks. He again denies it and gets upset with me for requesting it, and again says it's nights responsibility, they have to do it. And I'm thinking "But, like, there's mold in there right NOW?"
I was then told if I wanted to do an extra task I could clean the syrup risers. Which I did.
Now mind you, this is the same shift who will come in on his time off drive into the fast food restaurant next to us to and sit in parking lot and take notes on what partners are doing.
Weird
My point is it's just strange he was so obsessed with making night crew do it that he was willing to allow this mold to be in the ice bins especially when he had someone asking to be able to clean it.
This has literally been bugging me for weeks and I almost think I should quit because this toxicity is over the top.
( The reason I haven't said anything official is this shift has a well-documented history of getting people fired if they get on their bad side)
WDYT
GreatWizardH0wl 21 points 1y ago
Quit bc it's toxic but in those situations just clean it. Ask for forgiveness, not permission, that's people's health. This is what I would do as a shift.
jml7791 7 points 1y ago
Not sure what state you’re in but you should be able to report that to the health department. Reports can be anonymous and they don’t take pettiness lightly. It’ll be handled.
ricardimus 7 points 1y ago
This sounds like a nightmare situation you’re in. I’ve worked with people like this A LOT when I was a closing shift but not this bad. I was better able to encourage shift meetings when I got to talk to managers as I also worked a variety of shifts consistently (I enjoyed it). Those meets cleared a lot of toxicity, even sometimes causing bonds, and always clearing misunderstandings (these are by far the largest source of toxicity, like the fucking Niagara waterfalls of toxic waste).
Now I am a barista, I stepped down for personal reasons, as I was struggling with school. I’ve been truly fortunate, as I’ve been at 3 stores within 3 years, and while all of them have had their battles, it never got that bad. Shift meetings are somewhat regular at my current store.
What you CAN do as a barista (well, what I do at least): when this shit happens, and certain things get pinned on certain groups, I always, and I mean to an annoying extent, remind them that this is our store…. No matter what the thing is, “this is OUR store.” I get called a commie a lot but I don’t care… cause I am one, I find it flattering even lol. Regardless, that mentality of us vs them is particularly horrible for stores. Like if ecosure aka “QASA” show up or even local health department, that shift, along with all other shifts and manager, would (and should) be held responsible.
The fact that this shift has the favor of your sm is concerning. Honestly it seems your sm is allowing this to happen, knowingly or not it’s an issue. Next time you work with your sm (if ever) you could simple mention this interaction, as some managers are completely and utterly oblivious to their surroundings (I’ve worked with many in my 8 years) and mean well. You could also passively (aggressive) approach this by just taking the initiative of starting it when he tells you to rinse the syrups. Theres a shy bit of risk involved in that, but that lil bit of risk could really bring attention to his willing negligence of basic ass health standards. Fuck this dude in particular, all I think is “ew” when you described him.
Holy shit this turned out long, sorry lol.
Now I am a barista, I stepped down for personal reasons, as I was struggling with school. I’ve been truly fortunate, as I’ve been at 3 stores within 3 years, and while all of them have had their battles, it never got that bad. Shift meetings are somewhat regular at my current store.
What you CAN do as a barista (well, what I do at least): when this shit happens, and certain things get pinned on certain groups, I always, and I mean to an annoying extent, remind them that this is our store…. No matter what the thing is, “this is OUR store.” I get called a commie a lot but I don’t care… cause I am one, I find it flattering even lol. Regardless, that mentality of us vs them is particularly horrible for stores. Like if ecosure aka “QASA” show up or even local health department, that shift, along with all other shifts and manager, would (and should) be held responsible.
The fact that this shift has the favor of your sm is concerning. Honestly it seems your sm is allowing this to happen, knowingly or not it’s an issue. Next time you work with your sm (if ever) you could simple mention this interaction, as some managers are completely and utterly oblivious to their surroundings (I’ve worked with many in my 8 years) and mean well. You could also passively (aggressive) approach this by just taking the initiative of starting it when he tells you to rinse the syrups. Theres a shy bit of risk involved in that, but that lil bit of risk could really bring attention to his willing negligence of basic ass health standards. Fuck this dude in particular, all I think is “ew” when you described him.
Holy shit this turned out long, sorry lol.
AMarie-MCMXCI 5 points 1y ago
If you look at the CSR cards it's actually morning's job to do a quick clean of the ice machine first thing in the morning. And night's job to do a deep clean once a month. HOWEVER! It is EVERYONE'S responsibility to make sure things are clean and safe. Mold is not safe. Mold is yucky and can give people allergic reactions. So clean now, ask forgiveness later. But all in all quit if your aren't happy. No minimum wage job is worth your mental health and there are much less stressful jobs out there that pay the same.
turquoisturtle [OP] 3 points 1y ago
I did see it is on mornings, which I suspected because I have cleaned it as a morning task before, which made it more confusing that they insisted it be nights job.
turquoisturtle [OP] 2 points 1y ago
I am at the brink of quitting. I was asked to interview be a shift at a independent coffee shop, an they offered the job, it would just be a longer drive.
bestowcurse 3 points 1y ago
Holy shit are u in my store lol. I've had the same exact scenario and day and night shifts have been at w a r. That environment is soul sucking.
turquoisturtle [OP] 1 points 1y ago
Soul sucking indeed
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