Starbucks Barista

You either love it or you hate it; there is no in between when you’re working as a Starbucks barista. What is there to love? The pay, for one; a Starbucks barista typically earns more than her other retail counterparts, not including the tips. Then, there are the generous employment benefits, including health care coverage, stock options, retirement savings plans, and child support. And generally, with all the free coffee you can drink and current music playing in the stores, shifts pass by relatively quickly.

Despite being ranked the second best company to work for by Fortune magazine in 2005, not everybody enjoys their time working as a Starbucks barista. That includes one Matthew Brown, who worked for the company for over six years. A 28-year-old Starbucks barista based in Toronto, Brown kept a regular blog about his experiences working for the company. It was this online journal that would eventually get the Starbucks barista into hot water and leave him without a job.

It was on his blog that Brown would vent his frustrations of life as a Starbucks barista. He would complain about everything from his boss who once wouldn’t let him go home when he was sick to having to deal with rude and condescending customers. Although he never used his real name nor that of his manager, and he only gave the website address to a select group of people, Starbucks somehow got its hands on it. On the day the Starbucks barista was supposed to begin management training, having been promoted from a Starbucks barista to a supervisor, he was fired.

“There are times when you’re frustrated, some people have treated you terribly that day, so you vent – just like in any job,” said the Starbucks barista. “It was ignorant and rude, but it was for nobody except my family and friends.” Although Brown, along with every other Starbucks barista, signed a contract whereby he agreed not to make any negative comments about the company, he argues that his blog was a private means of communicating a very private message. In that, he sees no harm.

Brown’s case is not the first of its kind. There have been numerous other cases of Starbucks baristas who have been reprimanded for similar pursuits – posting websites that Starbucks feels are defamatory. So, the question is, if Starbucks is such a great place to work, why is there more than one Starbucks barista turning to the Internet to voice their frustrations?

Working as a Starbucks barista means working in a high-stress environment. When customers come into the store, they want their coffee, they want it done right, and they want it right away. In caffeine-deprived situations, there is neither hardly any tolerance nor any room for mistakes. As a Starbucks barista, you are not just serving coffee; you are ensuring that your customers get their day off on the right start. Despite all the advances of mankind, it is surprising how incapable people are of functioning before that first cup of coffee.

For the Starbucks barista, the caution sign on their cups of coffee has an entirely different meaning: become one at your own risk.

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