So, I am at the new Starbucks in my area, working on my charts for the week, and it's very nice in here. Only opened about 2 weeks, there isnt a lot of traffic in here yet, but the Drive-thru, apparently is rockin'. I'm sitting her quietly when all of a sudden I see a woman stading next to her car in the drive thru window demanding that her drink be made the way she wants it (carmel machiato (sp), "upside down") So anway, after THREE tries, the woman gets her drink and drives away. You'd think that would be the end of the story, but that would make for a boring blog post.
There were three cars behind this woman, and this wrench in the system threw the entire group of black polo shirt and khaki wearing employees into a tizzy. Well, that's a lie - The SHIFT manager, a woman in her late 30s, threw everyone in to a tizzy, yelling and acting, well, ridiculous....saying things like.
(To her fellow employes)"Stop talking to one another and get to work on those drinks!" "We're trying to make sure we aren't duplica-" "I said STOP TALKING and make the drinks - you'll be able to tell by looking!"
(To the customers waiting in the drive thru) "I would give you coupons for free drinks, but my manager is out to lunch and I am the only person here who isn't new. I came from another store before this." (For the record, the customers never asked.)
(To the air) "I'm the only person making drinks. I'm making six drinks at once!!!!"
And in the middle of all this, I sit, dumbfounded, just watching.
Now, this goes on for about ten minutes, and then it dies down - no customers in the store, no one in the drive through. The other employees take a breath.
Not the martyr. She keeps bitching.
And bitching.
And bitching.
Then the manager comes back from his lunch break. And she starts in on him.
For FIFTEEN MORE MINUTES.
I eventually was able to drown out her, "I hate working this shift it always falls apart here around 2pm and I don't understand blah blah blah," when I hear it. Loudly.
"I'm so fucking sick of this shit I can't stand it."
My ears perk up, as does my head. One of the 16 year olds behind the counter sees the look of my face and sorta gets a "Oh shit, he heard her." look on hers. She looked a little scared, and with reason.
I understand that people get frustrated with their jobs, and I am not in any way shape or form saying that working at a Starbucks isn't hard work. Lord knows I couldn't do it. However, there is a time and a place for showing frustration, and there is a way that one should do it when in a work in environment, and I think I can say with some certainty that saying fuck in front of customers is not one of them.
So, I make a mental note to look up the district manager number when I leave the store (because at this point, she's said fuck in front of the store manager and he didn't even flinch, so no point in telling him," and I go back to my notes.
Five minutes later, another employee, an older gentlement walks over to me with a duplication of the green tea lemonade I had been drinking and puts it down on my table.
"How 'bout a free refill?"
I look at the cup. "Sure! Thanks."
"Sorry about the little outburst a few minutes ago. Things got a little crazy."
I think I just accepted a bribe.
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5 comments:
Wow, decaf man.
anyway, I stopped by to share this nugget I found on bay news 9 today while I was checking the weather. It is priceless.
http://www.redroseinnandsuites.com/index1.htm
Ya, you're totally a starbucks whore and you'll be going back to see if can score some more free drinks. LOL! Maybe you could blackmail the manager?
Aren't you glad I wasn't there? The story would have taken a whole other turn...and you would have had free grande green tea lemonades for the rest of your life.
The Widow Carlisle needs to purchase that particular Starbucks location and impose her wonderful brand "management style" like she did at the hospital where our Grande Dame sits on the Board of Directors. Said "Shift Manager" would have been either fired or executed immediately.
The Widow Carlisle is shopping for a guillotine (or industrial strength Clorox Wipes) as I'm writing this....
I LOVE HER!
I think you should still call the district manager. Or do the "Contact Us" thing on their website. Can't hurt to try...I think that behavior is just uncalled for. Whatever happened to manners?
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