Starbucks Baristas: The daily grind
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Venti sized rant about lack of empathy (self.starbucksbaristas)
submitted by yeetanonymous420
An interaction I had with an elderly lady made my blood boil.
She orders a decaf brewed coffee at 10am to which I promptly explained we didn't have decaf brewed in bulk due to lack of demand. Before I could finish, she sputters something about us losing her business.
Undeterred by angry old ladies, I finished my speech about offering her a pour over (after I was so rudely interrupted). She accepts the pour over and when I hand it out to her, she says "You let homeless people in here?". Not trying to start a fight, I tell her yes and walk away. She mumbles something about filth under her breath-- obviosuly she's a bitch.
The cherry on top was when she finished her coffee and walked up to me for round 3. She started with "How do you prevent drug use in restrooms?" in an incredibly snarky tone.
I know shes referring to the needle disposal kits in our bathrooms that my store was super excited to get installed.
I tell her, "You can't. People are going to do it no matter what, so you might as well make it safe for all parties involved." That pissed her off.
She said she wouldn't be returning if I didn't kick out the homeless people in our lobby -- who were in fact drinking their waters and minding their own damn business.
I told her almost verbatim, "Thats wonderful to hear! I'm actually required to ban anyone who impedes upon the third place experience that EVERYONE is entitled to. And that person is you today, so please never come back!"
She called my store manager and my sm told me to write an incident report about her to make sure she's never allowed back to our location.
Good fucking riddance.
She orders a decaf brewed coffee at 10am to which I promptly explained we didn't have decaf brewed in bulk due to lack of demand. Before I could finish, she sputters something about us losing her business.
Undeterred by angry old ladies, I finished my speech about offering her a pour over (after I was so rudely interrupted). She accepts the pour over and when I hand it out to her, she says "You let homeless people in here?". Not trying to start a fight, I tell her yes and walk away. She mumbles something about filth under her breath-- obviosuly she's a bitch.
The cherry on top was when she finished her coffee and walked up to me for round 3. She started with "How do you prevent drug use in restrooms?" in an incredibly snarky tone.
I know shes referring to the needle disposal kits in our bathrooms that my store was super excited to get installed.
I tell her, "You can't. People are going to do it no matter what, so you might as well make it safe for all parties involved." That pissed her off.
She said she wouldn't be returning if I didn't kick out the homeless people in our lobby -- who were in fact drinking their waters and minding their own damn business.
I told her almost verbatim, "Thats wonderful to hear! I'm actually required to ban anyone who impedes upon the third place experience that EVERYONE is entitled to. And that person is you today, so please never come back!"
She called my store manager and my sm told me to write an incident report about her to make sure she's never allowed back to our location.
Good fucking riddance.
Warm_Ad_7668 164 points 1y ago
Unreal. How does one get banned from Starbucks 😅. You have to literally try to suck
yeetanonymous420 [OP] 113 points 1y ago
She really thought she was doing something by threatening us with "losing her business". How will the company survive without her paying $2.63 for a cup of coffee?!
IOnlyhave5_i_s 20 points 1y ago
Side note, blue lightbulbs are installed in bathrooms to keep intravenous drug use from happening (they can’t see there veins that way). And I digress, old people are this way, they’re stuck in there thinking and surprisingly unable to be flexible in there views. Regardless, they don’t get a say in how a massive corporation runs the business. Her opinions came from a place of fear, justified or not, and a sprinkle of righteousness. Everyone deserves a little compassion, which includes you. C’est la vie
iamrayamichelle 3 points 1y ago
it’s so hard to ban people, the only reason i’ve been aloud to ban anyone was because they literally took a shit in our bathroom sink twice. once was a passable offense apparently 😅
k8mitchy 108 points 1y ago
“You just lost yourself a customer!”
You think I own this business? You think I *CARE*? I’m a seasonal employee halfway through a two-week notice; I don’t give a shit!
You think I own this business? You think I *CARE*? I’m a seasonal employee halfway through a two-week notice; I don’t give a shit!
yeetanonymous420 [OP] 49 points 1y ago
How will this multi billion dollar company survive now 😱
GirlGangX3 9 points 1y ago
My favorite video in a long time
jsdod 11 points 1y ago
I love posting it for people who do not have the reference: https://www.reddit.com/r/retailhell/comments/qimqmp/yup/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
SilkyOatmeal 5 points 1y ago
You think I own IKEA?
Ok-Mycologist9011 71 points 1y ago
Hey pro tip!!! About the needle disposal bins say they’re for diabetics! Then they’ll just look like an asshole.
Sincerely, a wife of a type 1 diabetic
Sincerely, a wife of a type 1 diabetic
lycorisette 12 points 1y ago
Harm reduction helps everyone :)
Ok-Mycologist9011 11 points 1y ago
yes 100000%!! But when questioned by someone like in this post they don’t care about harm reduction so they’ll just feel stupid when someone is like “…. it’s for diabetics” ya know 🤣. We gotta find ways to make them see their stupidity somehow hahahaha
Sdee1234 37 points 1y ago
Glad you guys have proper disposal so random people cant hurt themselves on others' needles. Good on ya. Rule number 1 in my book is dont be a dick. That decaf lady was a dick. Speak with your wallet mam not your vitriol. Its not the poor service worker's decision on how a multibillion dollar business is run🤷♀️
Spinelise 20 points 1y ago
Gosh, as someone who's struggled with homelessness since I was 17, I absolutely hate the assumptions people have about these issues. I never was completely on the streets but I dealt with having to stay with a bunch of random strangers and homes every couple weeks or months and constantly having to look for shelters in the area. And it's given me so much empathy for all the folks out there in the cold with nowhere to go. Most people who become homeless become such due to so many factors, but so rarely because of drug use. It's more likely for drug habits to start after you become homeless cuz a lot of them end up either helping with hunger, paasing the time, or the sheer boredom from laying lifeless in a tunnel.
It's just,, so upsetting to see customers who think this way and leer at people like us. Homeless people don't choose for this to happen. I didn't choose this. I'm not a slouch, I worked hard at my jobs but still struggled with having a place to live or have food.
Thank you OP for shutting her down. We don't need that kind of business here, and your empathy is absolutely heartwarming and appreciated.
It's just,, so upsetting to see customers who think this way and leer at people like us. Homeless people don't choose for this to happen. I didn't choose this. I'm not a slouch, I worked hard at my jobs but still struggled with having a place to live or have food.
Thank you OP for shutting her down. We don't need that kind of business here, and your empathy is absolutely heartwarming and appreciated.
Necessary_Low939 7 points 1y ago
I would’ve say they don’t bother me. If they bother u then u tell them
watttsie 4 points 1y ago
“Never come back again” lol what a dream to get to say that 😂
SonOfThespis 4 points 1y ago
I’m happy your SM had your back in that situation, what an absolutely horrid human being, I’m sorry you had to deal with that!
[deleted] 1 points 1y ago
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Raging_phoenix915 -33 points 1y ago
… I gotta agree with her on this one a little. That whole allowing the homeless in and they’re doing drugs is a bit much. My area has a huge drug and homeless issue and the last time a place allowed someone homeless onto the premises they pulled a knife out on all of us that were there minding our own business. It also smelled crazy inside thanks to the OD’d man who was in the bathroom with his pants down and ass out 😷. Not saying she’s completely right with how she went about it but I do see her concern. As for the decaf; yea huge bytch.
yeetanonymous420 [OP] 40 points 1y ago
If you provide a place of warmth and belonging for people who are not often offered it, they don't cause any issues. The only problem we have with the homeless population is that they always take our patio trash out to the dumpster for us even though they don't work for the company. I would prefer someone shoot up in the bathroom where they can be safe than outside where they can't see anything and risk killing themselves. I'm sorry you have had these experiences, but I'd reccomend reading the title again to find the solution to your problem.
Raging_phoenix915 5 points 1y ago
We actually have sectors for them to do that safely but they don’t want to stay there. It’s equipped with cops and EMS. We can respectfully agree to disagree. I appreciate the response.
dsc42 8 points 1y ago
The cops are not known for their warm and gentle treatment of the homeless population. I wouldn’t want to hang around an area where cops were constantly potentially observing me either.
DirigibleUme 3 points 1y ago
My store has a mix. It's a small store in a weird smallish town in sprawling suburbia. We have some regulars that cause absolutely no problem, are polite and sometimes thankful. We have some that have been problematic in the past and have changed so that they are allowed (threatened with bans and changed), and then we have some who set up camp in our store, stay for hours and hours, saying and doing things that make customers and employees uncomfortable, and when it hits the breaking point it took almost a year to have one man banned after horrible comments to employees and creepy behavior towards young girls in the store. Just like the overall population, the houseless population varies. I'm glad the OPs store has such a good rap and I'm sorry for the mean old lady, and wish my store had a sharps container (idk if catheters go in there but for some reason that's a problem in my store 😶) bottom line, people are people no matter what. Some people will cause problems and some won't, regardless of where they come from.
Candid_Accident_ 21 points 1y ago
I’m just wondering how you kick someone out for being homeless. Like do you ask customers? Do you just make assumptions off of their appearance? Do you ask to see proof of rent or mortgage? If you say it’s because they’re not purchasing anything..., at least at my location, there’s no requirement to purchase to sit in the cafe. So this is an incredibly bad take.
brokenleftjoycon 21 points 1y ago
Who says they’re the ones doing drugs? That’s quite presumptuous. Also, a lot of people use needles for prescription medication that should be disposed in them. Biohazard disposal containers are extremely common as a general safety precaution.
Raging_phoenix915 -13 points 1y ago
You clearly missed the part where OP stated that when the lady asked about the homeless doing drugs they replied by saying “we can’t stop them they’re going to do it no matter what so we might as well make it safer for all of us.” So, not presumptuous but factual.
brokenleftjoycon 15 points 1y ago
OP didn’t specify that these specific homeless people were doing drugs. They said “people are going to do it no matter what.” And OP is right, people are going to do it no matter what, whether they’re homeless or millionaires. It’s presumptuous to assume that these specific customers are doing drugs because they’re homeless.
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