I'm a two-and-a-half month old Green Bean, and I just want to remind each of you - as individual human beings - how beautiful and incredible you are.
I recently changed careers from a longtime profession to work as a barista with you guys, so I'm middle-aged and learning something fresh and new...
And you guys always just nail it. Over the past 20+ years I've lived in this country, the worst Starbucks employee I'd ever encountered was 100 X better than what I'm putting forth as my best. 😅
And you're so patient with me, and you treat me like a human being...
I live alone with an elderly cat, and she was my sole reason for even still being here... and my Starbucks family took me in, and they treat me just like they treat everyone else.
I'm so grateful I'm the only "me" there is on my team. Oh my gosh, imagine a Starbucks team where everyone had just gotten beat across the back of the head with a board moments before they put on their aprons...? That's what a team full of "me"s would look like.
I can't remember names like you do. I'm so jealous of your ability to just pull forth someone's name as quickly as you do. Last month, my sister sent me a selfie, and I asked, "Who's that old lady standing next to you? Is that a coworker, or a neighbor?" and she thought I was joking, because it was actually our mom -- I couldn't place her face... 😭😭😭
At this point in my life, I'm so desperately clinging to anything that can situation however much life I've got left. Granted, at this point I'm pretty much just running out the lease on this life 😅 but there's something wrong with my colon and I've been without my meds for three months because I haven't had insurance and even with a diagnosis there's no way I could afford to do anything to make it better anyway 😂 I just realize how absolutely beautiful it is to watch you work.
To see how you all - EACH and EVERY one of you - handle with such grace and aplomb even the fussiest of customer orders. Watching you sequence those drinks, sprinkled with on-the-fly "fixes" you make because my dumb ass keeps fucking things up for you (...and I can't tell the difference between Grande and Venti cold cups in the back storage area on sight without visual reference and I hate myself for it and want to die because I'm so thoroughly and IMPOSSIBLY stupid...)...

I sincerely love each of you. Even if I never met you before, what you do is truly impressive to me. Everything about what you do.
And you know that's more than "just make coffee." What you do is artistic and beautiful.

I appreciate you so much!