Every morning, you stop in your local Starbucks and order your venti upside-down caramel macchiato with skim milk, extra caramel, and an extra shot. Your barista knows you by name and you always exchange friendly greetings before you scurry off to another day at work. Sometimes the line is out the door, especially if you go back mid-day for a refill. Your coffee starts each day with the help of mocha and espresso to give you a boost. You couldn't go without your coffee, and you expect nothing less on a Monday morning at 7:30 a.m.
However, that barista probably arrived around 4:30 a.m. to brew your coffee to perfection. I work in a bagel shop during the summer, and a Barnes and Noble cafe when I'm back during the school year. Back home, my alarm goes of at 4 a.m. to make my shift on time. Chances are you'll meet a college student who doesn't always get to bed at an early hour; the normal seven to eight hours of sleep you get sounds like pure bliss. We know you're tired and completely understand. But your tiredness is not an excuse to jerk us around. Your barista is there to make a drink to your perfection as quickly as possible.
Not only do we care about our customers but we're people too. We love talking to your face. If you're on the phone, hang up and call back later. You'll also score some free stuff by taking the time to get to know us. So please be nice, and respect your barista's work.
While you're waiting for your drink, staring at us isn't going to make us move any faster. Especially during a rush, we need to concentrate to get drinks out as soon as possible.
When rush hour hits, it's crazy behind the counter too. Multiple people are running around for milk, whipped cream, cups, and much more. Naturally, mistakes are bound to happen. But we aren't going to be jerks about it. If a barista messes up your drink, simply point it out and give us the time to fix it.
We know you may be in a hurry, but we're moving just as fast to keep up with our customers. Sometimes we may get the drink description on the cup wrong, or just misread it (this is especially the case with new employees). In order to prevent slip ups on drinks, be specific when you place your order. For example, skinny and sugar free mean two different things to us.
Unfortunately, some of the cafe ambiance we cannot change. Our temperature and music is controlled by corporate (at least for some places). If it doesn't suit you, please go somewhere else. We don't want you to be uncomfortable and we don't want you to complain. You chose to come into the store; we didn't force you to.
I love working as a barista and I work hard to perfect each drink that I make. We baristas want to serve you, so please bring in positivity and we'll bring ours.
