Firstly, i’m black man. I’m also a shift and i’ve been with the company for over 3 and a half years and i constantly have to codes switch every moment i’m at work. Code switching is not limited to just vocabulary, it’s also how you talk and the culture of how you communicate with people is changed. I work with sooooo many white people that don’t understand when i’m joking or what i’m trying to convey in many common situations. And it frequently results in a misunderstanding and sensitive moment for the white person im talking to and i have to explain to them what my language and expressions and tone mean in that moment. It only happens with the white people i have ever worked with. I’m 25 and i’ve worked many jobs and dealt with a lot of people from undergrad and during grad school now and how different groups of friends and family who are black, poc, and white and this misunderstanding only comes with the some of white people I interact with. It’s really frustrating because i always feel like i have to code switch in order to perceived as approachable or non problematic and when these situations happen it always comes across as the big black guy is being mean to white people or something when that’s never the intention. I feel like i can never let my guard down or even say anything because I think i would be told im in the wrong. this is just so frustrating because starbucks is already not a place where you see a lot of POC and black people work and this in embedded in the culture not just at starbucks but most work places. it’s so exhausting to always have to “watch my back”. I’m just so tired 😪