On the Job
/You might be curious about my job these days. I was just checking out my calendar and realized I've been a barista for about 8 months now - shocking. I feel like I know the ropes pretty well now, although there is always room for growth (nobody's perfect I suppose - I keep try though!). Here's some random stuff about life as a barista:
Customers - We have a ton of regulars - no joke. I'm horrible with estimating numbers (i.e. don't ask me the population of Eugene), but it's gotta be something like 50 something regulars many that come everyday. Some of them get something as simple as a cup of coffee (or maybe a grande in a venti Pikes) to more complicated like a decaf venti vanilla soy with whip latte. Some get crazy amounts of shots or flavor, and some get straight up shots. I think my favorite is the grande breve, 3 sugar, with whip and chocolate drizzle mocha. We see lots of crazy drinks folks, but it sure makes it interesting. I actually love our regulars since you get to know them and it's fun to be like "hey so-and-so, want your such-and-such today?"
SBux 7 Dwarfs - Speaking of regulars, I was coming up with Starbucks dwarf alternative names. Doppio, Breve, Starry, Frappie. Still thinking of others. Maybe something with VIA or beans.
AM Stuff - The past few weeks I've been working more open shifts. Our store opens 5:30am on weekdays and 6am on weekends. This means we need to be there at 5am and 5:30am respectively. And that translates to a 4-something wake-up time. It's rough, but then you have the whole day to run errands, appointments, nap. Right now I'm tired because I opened, but I've already done the laundry and had froyo with a friend (work-friend haha). Not bad for a day's work, ehh?
Cheers - Some customer (not a regular) thought I looked like a character from Cheers. Apparently I have a striking resemblance and personality to Shelly. I really can't say since I didn't watch the series except for a few times as a kid and that was just passing through channels, so I don't recall any of it.
Team - Tuesday we had a team outing to Putters. Alright my Cali friends, get this, it's an indoor mini-golf place. Yes, inside. There are indoor tennis courts here too. It also doubles as a lazer tag place and restaurant. You might recall previous posts about lazer tag - this is that place. The whole team enjoyed some pizza, pepsi and mini golf. It was a good time (Sorry, I forgot about picture taking. Okay, I'll be honest, I felt funny asking people for photos - I hate that). Good times though. We have a few new people joining the team, so it was good to get to know them a bit more.
Signs - I'm still of the official store sign maker. I made a new one this week about how to use your VIA. I also made a hiring management sign. On the latter, I did the ultimate challenge: the Starbucks logo. I think I did pretty well except that our white marker paint pen was dry so it was in yellow.
The End. (But Starbuck's life continues).
P.S. You'll see photos of me on the job at my Flickr album. You'll also see some girls I've become friends with at work.
Customers - We have a ton of regulars - no joke. I'm horrible with estimating numbers (i.e. don't ask me the population of Eugene), but it's gotta be something like 50 something regulars many that come everyday. Some of them get something as simple as a cup of coffee (or maybe a grande in a venti Pikes) to more complicated like a decaf venti vanilla soy with whip latte. Some get crazy amounts of shots or flavor, and some get straight up shots. I think my favorite is the grande breve, 3 sugar, with whip and chocolate drizzle mocha. We see lots of crazy drinks folks, but it sure makes it interesting. I actually love our regulars since you get to know them and it's fun to be like "hey so-and-so, want your such-and-such today?"
SBux 7 Dwarfs - Speaking of regulars, I was coming up with Starbucks dwarf alternative names. Doppio, Breve, Starry, Frappie. Still thinking of others. Maybe something with VIA or beans.
AM Stuff - The past few weeks I've been working more open shifts. Our store opens 5:30am on weekdays and 6am on weekends. This means we need to be there at 5am and 5:30am respectively. And that translates to a 4-something wake-up time. It's rough, but then you have the whole day to run errands, appointments, nap. Right now I'm tired because I opened, but I've already done the laundry and had froyo with a friend (work-friend haha). Not bad for a day's work, ehh?
Cheers - Some customer (not a regular) thought I looked like a character from Cheers. Apparently I have a striking resemblance and personality to Shelly. I really can't say since I didn't watch the series except for a few times as a kid and that was just passing through channels, so I don't recall any of it.
Team - Tuesday we had a team outing to Putters. Alright my Cali friends, get this, it's an indoor mini-golf place. Yes, inside. There are indoor tennis courts here too. It also doubles as a lazer tag place and restaurant. You might recall previous posts about lazer tag - this is that place. The whole team enjoyed some pizza, pepsi and mini golf. It was a good time (Sorry, I forgot about picture taking. Okay, I'll be honest, I felt funny asking people for photos - I hate that). Good times though. We have a few new people joining the team, so it was good to get to know them a bit more.
Signs - I'm still of the official store sign maker. I made a new one this week about how to use your VIA. I also made a hiring management sign. On the latter, I did the ultimate challenge: the Starbucks logo. I think I did pretty well except that our white marker paint pen was dry so it was in yellow.
The End. (But Starbuck's life continues).
P.S. You'll see photos of me on the job at my Flickr album. You'll also see some girls I've become friends with at work.
