Fellow barista here and I agree. Especially when they want to complain in the morning to the closers that they didn’t do one task (change a trash can that was 1/4 full or something else minimal) and it ruined their whole morning routine. Like seriously?

Although I personally can’t close (work a full time job 6 late afternoon/evenings a week), I do think it would be good for everyone to have to work a shift opposite their normal at least once or twice even if just in training. I try very hard to not nit pick the closers because I know I have no idea what closing is like. With that in mind there have been some very rough opens and I do wish that closers also had to experience what opening is like. Especially because I’ve had more than a handful of times opening where the other opening barista doesn’t show up and it’s not like anyone is easily able to come in and cover at 4am. My big thing is that all this openers vs closers drama is almost always misdirected and should be directed at upper management for forcing SM’s to keep such bare bones staff all day long so there’s just not enough time to get everything done in a way that’s best for everyone. A bad open will lead to a bad close which leads to a another bad open and so on.

ngl closing was so easy for me compared to opening. i used to be a full time closer and i almost always got my tasks done and if i couldn't i would set them up to be done. opening is a different beast. now that i open full time i feel like my task list is never ending and im constantly moving. morning customers are also on something else lmao

I mean yeah but when I close vs open I do the things that I would want done meaning the closers regardless who they are have time to do 🤷🏻‍♀️ at the same time when the freaking keg of cold brew is empty and they couldn’t have bothered to fix it that’s when I complain

As an opening SSV, I have mad respect for my closing partners. My store is cafe only and usually on a 2 part from 5p-9p (close). And of course all the new, and undertrained green beans get thrown on closing. I admire their hardwork and dedication to give me the best handoffs they can...because, truthfully, I don't think I could do it.

I was the opening ssv for 2 years and now I’m a closing ssv.

This is so true!!!!!! Our SM only ever opens. Never closes. All of the notes in the book are critiquing the closers. It makes it really hard to keep up the morale when you constantly get nitpicked about everything in writing.

Yes, opening you have a lot more customers but you also have a lot more people working. Our store has 6-7 people working in the morning.

At night we only have 3! We still have a very steady flow of customers for about 7 hours. When you have only half of the staff you have to realize that when the half hours are in the 20-30’s that’s like if it was 40-60’s in the morning….which our store NEVER has more than 40 half hours in the morning. Plus the night shift has to do all of the tasks in addition to taking care of the customers. I could really go on about this but I’ll stop. 🙃

Having worked both opening for 2 years and now nights for over 2 years, I feel very qualified to say opening is way easier. The only thing about opening is how early you have to get up.

My manager actually just told morning crew off for this after we found a whole LIST of things night crew apparently didnt do, and half of the things on that list were morning tasks. They make a mess in the morning and blame it on us, saying the store was filthy when I know for a fact it was perfectly clean when I closed because I full on scrubbed each counter, drawer, and fridge. It got to the point where we were so salty we actually took pics of what the store looked like at close and sent it to the shift group chat so they could see that they're bullshitting

i’m a minor and almost every shift i work on weekdays is closing :P

ngl i liked closing bc i never had to deal w management. as long as u get ur shit done closing u can pretty much dick around all night. it's kinda like a work hard/play hard kinda vibe

I was at a licensed store for a year before I went to corporate. I opened the entire store at 5am and soloed the whole kiosk for 4 hours of my shift. Before switching to closing because I started uni up again. Closing shift you’d solo for 4 hours at the end, too. Opening is sooooo much easier than closing, and this stands true at corporate.

OP!!! You literally juss hit it on the nail of wht I go thru EVERY SHIFT at my store. Reasons like those, is y I wish the morning crew could be closers for a Lil to see wtf we have to do..I swear this exactly how me and the rest of the night crew feels every. Single. Shift.🤬🙇🏽‍♀ its beyond me🤬🤬💯💯

I used to close when I first started and all I’m going to say is, there’s a reason I don’t anymore. Closers do so much, I’d even go as far as say they’re the backbone of the store lol

I just personally hate closing, always have and always will. I rather leave early and actually have a day for myself than wake up, work, sleep repeat.

All the shifts at my store close at least once a month, including the SM. Use to be once a week, but a closing Barista was promoted and wants mostly closes. Complaining gets shut down real quick, cause we all know how much work has to get done at close with half the staff peak has. My store also tries to do some tasks mid day, so it's a bit easier on the closers. Like we clean the bars, sinks, drains, and floors before the closers even get in. Things still get a quick wipe at night, but you don't need to scrub most things.

No one wants to be at the store at 4am either. It's not just closers.

Agreed. I close majority of the time and it’s a pain and makes me want to just leave some stuff for them to do so they know that pain. Now stop that, openers 😂

I know schedules and availability are always tricky, but I really do think everything could go so much more smoothly if EVERYONE worked every shift once in a while. I'm talking SSVs and managers too. Everyone likes to focus on peak, which is understandable, but that does not mean the rest of the day doesn't matter.

I work mostly mids now, but I did use to work all shifts. I would open, mid and close. Every shift has their challenges. And more people need to realize that

recently one of our morning only baristas made a comment about how closers dont do anything 😐 i would pay money to see her and a few others struggle through a close, especially a clean play before the district manager is due to visit cus they wouldn’t stand a chance lol

As a closer I totally agree. I think most openers do not understand all the work and cleaning that goes into closing. At my store there’s a lot of tension between us and it’s honestly really frustrating. No matter how well I think my close went they always find something to nitpick even if it’s something that’s not even our responsibility. Like yesterday the opener wrote in the book that oat milk and a couple of bar things weren’t restocked but we were literally out of stock on those things lmao and we had wrote in the book that we were out of it. It makes me not want to try harder because it seems like we can never be good enough.

I’m the only employee at the store with a kid, yet I close 3 nights a week. However I’m not a morning person so I’m not super mad about it 😆

Hmmm... this sounds familiar, what are they complaining about?👌 my closers have forgotten the most basic shit, such as locking the front door, or not doing the pull lmao 😂 I think I can complain. I closed for a bit over a year and it simply isn't as hard, not that it matters. Both shifts have pros and cons.

EDIT: I'm sorry if I upset yall, I did not word this correctly. I was trying to make a joke and I now see it did not sound like one lmao. I really was not and am not trying to come across like a dick, I'm genuinely sorry.

For clarification sake: I feel opening is physically 100x harder however both shifts have pros and cons. I HATE closing with every fiber of my being and prefer being an opener because closing is 100x harder mentally because you spend your entire day dreading work because who knows how slammed we were that morning. Yall forget that the entire point of our shifts is to prepare for the next peak because it's basically the apocalypse, and unfortunately morning shift are the ones who face that apocalypse (not that there aren't the odd busy nights).

The cons of opening are: waking up early, facing morning rush, placing more orders and needing to put them away during those rushes, etc Closing cons: spending the entire day dreading work, having only 2-3 people for the last few hours of the day, needing to handle money, etc. I have advice for yall: Work with whichever is easiest for you even if you have to inconvenience your manager or switch stores. We do not get paid enough to deal with GENUINELY attacking (I was joking, again, I'm sorry) eachother instead of your manager.

Second edit: also being expected to stay late for close is complete bullshit. I used to stay late no matter what to make sure night shift was prepared/ morning shift was prepared and skip breaks n shit when that isn't EITHER of our jobs. We aren't required to stay late, they just ksl you feel like you have to and it's bull shit.