In the month of August something magical happened. I was an employee at my college’s Starbucks that just opened. I was so excited because I was part of a new store and all the great experiences from working at Starbucks will become a reality. I get to try all the amazing drinks, write people’s name down on a cup with a 60 percent rate of me spelling it wrong, and get to see all the happy customers love me because they sure as hell don’t like me at my other job. It was a magical dream that had its ups and downs, and now I can finally vent all of the crap I experienced during my time there.
“I want a White Mocca, no whip, no foam, 128 degrees…” SHUT UP!
The main thing you do at Starbucks is make the drinks, which was my favorite thing to do. I was at the point where I could do cute flips when I was getting the whip cream out. We have a policy where you do whatever the customer asks. If they wanted hot water with white mocha…well, we would make it for them. I don’t mind making your crazy personalized orders, but when you are getting so specific like SAT questions specific, it is annoying. Just order the basic white girl drink and have a nice day.
“I’m ordering from the Secret Menu.”
The secret menu is this app where you can make crazy yummy drinks that the menu usually doesn’t have. I love making them because I like trying them out when I have a free moment, but please if you want to order a secret drink make sure when you read the ingredients you like them. Someone came in wanting a Cinnamon Frappuccino or whatever.
Now, I asked them what was in the drink since I was unfamiliar with it. The ingredients are on the app and they are easy words to say, but the person had the audacity to show me the phone…seriously? You are in college and can’t read words like Toffee Nut or whatever the drink has. It is like someone who comes in all loud and when I ask for their number they show me a card with it. How hard is it to say numbers when you were coming in here talking you were like the Oscars or something fancy crap like that?
The drink was made and they don’t like it because it has coffee in it (the menu thing had listed coffee in it, BTW). Usually if a customer doesn’t like a drink (only if it is a recommendation we give them and they don't like), we usually make them something else free of charge because we want them to be happy with the Starbucks experience. So we make them the same drink as a crème base -- they didn’t like that as well. Now we could have solved this, but we had a Black Friday line. There were people thirsty for their White Mochas, and we had to deal with them.
I understand experimenting is fun, but in this situation your experiment failed. Try again next time while I deal with the thirsty customers while trying to not to cry because I am working an eight-hour shift with no food in my body and a ton of work still left to do that would make a high school teacher cry. Also making a big deal that you added hazelnut to your Vanilla Bean really isn’t cute. You just put more money in everyone’s bank account -- just throwing that out there
“I want a small vanilla frappe.”
The correct terminology is a Tall Vanilla Bean Frappuccino. Now I have patience most of the time, but some of my workers always wanted to correct people for not knowing the Starbucks lingo. First off, that is rude because they came in here for a fancy milkshake or milky espresso and you coming in here telling the correct way is wasting all of our times. I can easily translate small to tall, medium to grande, and large to venti. Don’t correct the customer. Let them be happy that they are getting an amazing drink from you. I just need to let that out…that always pissed me off.
Getting Mad At Me For Something I Can't Control
At the Starbucks I work at, we are a very small store which means we usually run out of stuff right before we get a new shipment. Usually Wednesday and Thursday are the days where all we have left is water and some cups. There will be times where we don’t have a certain because of that, and customers get upset. I understand that point -- walking through the crazy obstacle course of construction that Lander offers to find out you can't get a White Mocha or a Caramel Frappuccino but please don’t get mad at us. It is really hard telling people we don’t have something because of that and most of the times we try to find alternatives to help get your cravings.
A while back, we ran out of Java Chips used to make the Double Chocolate/Java Chip Frappuccino. We still sold the drink, but we just doubled the amount of chocolate to get that satisfying taste. The only thing missing was the Java Chips. Think about this, your life will not end because we ran out of something that we will get back shortly and that is how you should treat life. In life you are dealt with the cards given to you and instead of folding them, play what you have because there might be a chance that something good will happen and your next set of cards might be better because of that. Also you can just go to the Starbucks on the bypass -- have fun with that traffic!
We are Really Arabucks
Yes, we look like Starbucks, but actually we are just a licensed store under the food catering services of Aramark so we still have to follow the rules that Aramark does which means we don't have some of the promotions that other Starbucks have. That is just how the business world goes. Numerous times people come to us and say the other Starbucks did that. Well, I’m sorry we don’t so you can go back there if you want to get that fancy free small drink for coming here five times.
We recently got gift cards running which is a blessing. I remember one time I told someone we don’t and their reaction looked like I told them that their cat died or I stole their lover. That might be the closest will get in term of full Starbucks. We might be able to do some of their promotions and you can ask us, but don’t assume we do because we all know that saying. On the bright side, you can use your Bearcat Bucks to buy almost everything at the store minus gift cards.
The Good Times
I left Starbucks a month ago and it was because I needed a break. I had so much going on I had to focus on school and my health that I had to go. It was a hard job, but I did love it. Here are some of my favorite moments.
- Seeing a friend and decorating their cup.
- Setting up for Christmas. It was really fun setting the store up.
- The customers. I have gotten to see like 80 percent of the student body at Lander, and you guys are great! Whenever I get to have a small conversation with someone, it is always great. Most of the time I might get annoyed with you, but do take in the fact that I worked like a 15-hour work week from two jobs together, so I love you all and thank you for making my time there a real treat!
- My coworkers who dealt with me and made my eight-hour shifts enjoyable.
- Meeting Queen Lindsey. She and my supervisor Sophie always get me and if you get me then you are like 1,000,000,000 times awesome.
Just like every job there are some rough moments, but I enjoyed every moment working there. It made me a better person especially during hard times. I had to run the store by myself a couple of times, I did sacrificed eating to get work done (school work), learn how to make a killer whip cream mountain (which I got yelled at a lot), and I made people’s day. That last part means a lot to mean because everyone has a purpose in life and I feel like mine is to make others happy and I think I did that while working at Starbucks if it was telling them have a great day, making their sugary drink, or watching me fail at life when I was trying to be fancy. I made them smile and everyone needs to smile. If given the opportunity I would love to go back there not because I am poor now, but because it was a fun experience an opportunity that I will never forget, but I am glad to forget the coffee smell that followed me around when I got home every time I worked.
