being a barista blows right now. the customer connections in my store have been on a steady decline: we’ve been busy while at the same time losing partners to transfers and losing new partners who decided the job wasn’t for them. some partners have required reduced hours as the school year began, which is completely understandable. we’ve had 2 small covid outbreaks and related isolations in the last month. the remaining workload of turning out good quality product, connecting, getting DT times down, and keeping wait times in the cafe down has all fallen on those who remain. we’re burnt out.

as we run out of INCREDIBLY popular product (our store, like i’m sure you all understand, goes through a large amount of caramel drizzle, MDR, lemonade, peach tranquility, jade citrus mint, etc. every day, leaving us with brief outages relatively frequently,) our customer base becomes increasingly more frustrated.

we are understaffed, underpaid, and overworked. we’re under stocked. our machines have major functionality issues at least once a week, causing an increase in wait times. we’re treated miserably as a result, and we are somehow expected to raise these scores when i’m sure the fatigue, sadness, and frustration wear on our faces. an unsatisfied customer is more likely to fill out a survey than a satisfied one—and yet, even the number of responses to that survey has fallen, meaning negative reviews have EVEN MORE WEIGHT than ever.

as our DM becomes more frustrated with us, it becomes increasingly clearer to me that the higher management in this company does not care about me or any of my coworkers who are doing the best we can to create a positive experience for customers and make a living for ourselves.

hope you’re all taking care of yourselves out there. wishing you high customer connections, low DT times, and good tips this week.

sincerely,
a barista on her last ropes