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Another So-Called Life

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Fucking Life, Man

February 2, 2008 at 2:30 pm · Filed under News, Starbucks

It’s February 

    What the fuck happened to January? 

    I worked at a different store yesterday. Howell Ferry.

It was crap.

    Eight hours.

Slow.

    I didn’t get to make drinks.

The people there were nice-ish I guess.

    But not really.

It was a drive-thru store, so it was a bit confusing at first.

    All I did was mark cups.

I was bored.

    I almost had to work there again today, but I didn’t because my meds have turned me into a zombie woman. I could barely walk this morning. So I showed up and they sent me home.

Thank God.

    Just went back home and slipped back into sleep.

I feel weak, like I can’t feel my whole body. And my mind is definitely dulled.

    What does one do in this situation? When they’re sick?

I’m sick. Mentally, at least.

    How does one take care of themselves?

I can’t wait to work again at my own store.

    To make the familiar drinks at my own bar.

To see the lovely faces I cherish so much.

    Why do I love it so much? Why do I need it? Why do I need them?

I cant make sense of it.

    I’m sure if I quit, I would find a new place and new friends.

I would go on; I wouldn’t cave in.

    I would start a new life as a kind of brand new person.

But I won’t quit.

    Not yet.

I still get to much benefit from the job: financially, emotionally, physically, mentally.

    In every way, Starbucks has helped me.

I wish I knew what else I wanted to do.

    How do I take care of myself?

What else do I want to do with my life?

    Who am I?

I’ll keep asking these questions until they are answered.

    And February will become March

and March will become April

    and life will keep moving on,

so I must move on with it.

    I must learn how.

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The Bestest Customers Do It In Line

January 10, 2008 at 1:39 am · Filed under Announcements, Starbucks and tagged: ,

Some highlights from my life recently:

    1) I stole my parents’ car without a license.  And drove it to work.  Way to milk it, Sarah.

2) I began school and met a really super guy in my Bio class.  We talked for an hour and a half and he walked me to my next class.  Don’t worry, he has a girlfriend.  It would really suck if I caught a break every once in awhile in the boy department. 

    3) I decided to completely change directions schoolwise, and instead of going to Tech for Computational Media, I am now planning on going to UGA for Film Studies.  I’ll still end up in Film School eventually, but I won’t have to take 2 years of Calculus to get there anymore.  I’m just too damn artsy. 

If you want details on any of these topics, just go ask someone who cares, because I sure don’t.  

    Moving on…

Starbucks customers!  

    Listen up to this important customer behavior bulletin! 

How To Order and Receive a Delicious Starbucks Beverage (Without Making Your Barista Want To Shove Your Face Into The Grinder):

    1) Enter the establishment.  Spend several minutes inspecting the merchandise and pastry case.  Ask for full details on anything you see.  Let you kids fondle and drop whatever they can reach.  Ask if anything is on sale.  Ask pretty please.  Bring up another store that had their merchandise on sale.

2) Get in line.  Or just sidle along the tile as slowly as you can.  Maybe you have a person with you that you can whisper to, whine at, or tug on.  Or maybe you’d prefer talking loudly into your cell phone at our faces.  Be as ambiguous as you can about your position in the line, whatever you choose to do.   

    3) Staring at the menu for five minutes is an option.  Feel free to take this decision as seriously as you would take purchasing a car.  You must be willing to look at every possible issue that may arise from buying a particular drink.  Some questions to ask yourself are: Can they make it cold?  Can they make it nonfat?  Can they make it decaf?  Can they make it with half the caffeine, twice the syrup, and soy milk?  Can they make it extra hot?  What about adding splenda?  Can I get half nonfat milk and half soy milk?  Can I get- YES.  The answer is always yes.  Just ask for it.  But be warned that your barista may hate you in direct proportion to how many inane customizations you add to a drink.  Or they may not.  Sometimes we love a good challenge.      

4) Once you have a thorough understanding of the expansive choices, order a plain black coffee.  Why deviate from a classic?

    5) If your feeling a bit friskier, you may order a more fun drink; one with plenty of strict specifications.  Never bother to learn how to order it correctly, though.  Ask for an extra hot vanilla latte without fat, 2 splendas, decaffeinated, sugar free, with whip, and 2 extra pumps.  That’s right, don’t give us the size.  Why bother with ounces?  You just want your drink done right.  Don’t even give us the size after we ask you for it. 

6) If you are one of those people who find size important, please don’t learn the names we give ours.  Just go with “small,” “in between,” and “that big size.”  If you have no clue what the sizes are and you want to find out, look up at the menu.  The size examples are sitting on the counter, but referring to the menu always shows attentiveness.  We get so many attentive customers, we don’t know what to do with them.

    7) Once you have successfully relayed your order to us, ask for the price to verify what the cash register reads.  Eager customers who toss their money directly on the counter and walk off are appreciated, as are those who shove their cards in our faces before we have a chance to punch in the order.  We really enjoy counting up exact change, too, and even any old random change you might have, but only if it takes you ten years to rummage around in your pockets or purse for it.  

8 ) When you have paid, don’t move from that spot.  Stay right where you are to block the counter from upcoming customers.

    9) If you eventually make your way over to the pass-off counter, lean on it and stare at your barista as he/she prepares your drink.  Make comments on their work, and give suggestions when necessary.  If you’re too shy for that, find a table on the farthest side of the store and don’t listen for your drink to be called.  For those close to the bar, but not leaning on it, listen closely for your drink name.  When a drink is called, make a frowny face if it is not yours and a confused expression if it is.  Or don’t make any expression at all.  We love to guess what you’re thinking.  Repeat the drink name after us and stare at the cup distastefully as you walk away.  Or better yet: take a sip and ask us to make it again.  If the barista is someone you find cute, please, oh please flirt, tease, and generally harass him or her as much as you feel like.  They’re trapped behind the counter; what they can they do in response?

These are only a few of the wide variety of positive customer behaviors that Starbucks condones.  Follow these steps and you just may find your way into a barista’s heart.  

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You Smell Like Starbucks

January 5, 2008 at 4:20 pm · Filed under Starbucks and tagged:

I love the way my hands smell when I come home from work at Starbucks.  They smell like milk and coffee.  Of course.  But more.  Like the store itself, all the people inside, the very atmosphere.  

    I love the warm feeling it gives me hours after I’ve been off my shift.  I might bring my hands close to my nose later in the day and all at once I’m filled with comfort.  

I can hear the gentle internal humming of the espresso machines, the hissing, fizzing milk being steamed, the harsh, pounding whirring of the coffee grinder, the trickling, gushing, flowing, dribbling liquids all pouring out.  

    These have become beautiful sounds to me.  

And the layout of the store has become like my home parlor.  I can see every corner, every scratch, every polished, worn surface that makes it up.  All the memories of hectic morning rushes; thumping pitchers, warping jugs, splattering foam, and racing hearts; of steady mid-day streams; soaking grinds, soapy dishes, ringing register, and catching breaths; of slowing afternoon lulls; crackling trash bags, powdery mocha and cream, crumbling pastries, and peaceful sighs; and of quiet, contemplative evenings; swept floor, faintly, silently, fading lights and sounds; a falling hush; are present in the store.  

    I have felt the sun rise and set from behind the glass walls, have experienced the hopeful, fluttery pre-dawn feeling as well as the sleepy stillness of post-dusk.  

It is a wonderful place.  

    But the only reason I find such things as running milk and brewing coffee so wonderful is the people.  

The customers have their charms and their smiles, yes, but the people I a talking about are the baristas; the crew.

    I can see Trish, a woman-in-charge, controlled and steadfast, as angelic as she is hardened, smiling as she relays a story from her life to me. 
      I can see Joan, the manager, carrying a notebook, eyes always searching, always working, never finished, giving me instructions on new protocol, maybe even letting herself grin at a passing joke.  

     
    I can see Ben, ever-confident and hard-driving; a teddy bear beneath the layers; laughing as he teases me.

      And Biruk, the superman, is rushing around, mind in a million different directions, beaming at me as he leaves a trail of havoc behind him.  

      
    Steve rolls his eyes, snarking and wincing, but patiently working diligently; he is a sweetheart disguised in a jaded, hard-worn exterior. 

      Jessika is endlessly pouring drink after drink, steaming and stirring as she grows closer to every customer and partner with her stories and smiles. 

    Angelo chuckles merrily, punching in orders, charming everyone with both his flamboyance and genuineness.

      Amy enters the store silently and glumly but leaves in effervescence and piles of cheery laughter; she is competent, strong, smart, and a real goofball.  

    Tuan rolls through the place like a trail of fire, cleaning and working, his hands like two sticks that when rubbed together create sparks; he is funny and full of life, though slow to warm at first.

      Laurel is a cheeky woman with an edge of sarcasm and a center of sweetness who works the evenings with a casual air befitting a place like Starbucks.  

      
    I could go on forever about each person’s eccentricities and loveliness.

      Trish says that everything happens for a reason.  My reasons for applying for the job at Starbucks were few.  My reasons for staying are many, and at times undescribable.  Hopefully, in a year or two when I have to leave, I’ll be ready, but I couldn’t imagine leaving now.  

      
    Starbucks, my Starbucks, has become like my other family,

      my second home,

    my sanctuary from solitude, school, stress,

      and real life.  

      Because it isn’t like real life.  It’s a show.  

      And I always loved a show.

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