Ketchup

Ketchup is just a play on words - Shakespeare style. What I'm really getting at here is catch-up as in I'm catching up on my entries. I could write separate posts for each topic, but some are from a while ago and it seems lame to write them now pretending they just happened. For this post, I'm reverting back to my favorite bullet style update.

• One Year with Starbucks - Tuesday, 9/21 marked my one year anniversary with Starbucks. A whole year! Crazy to think how quickly this year has gone by. I remember my first few months as a barista and how nervous I was trying to learn everything, especially the drink recipes. Did you know that about 85% of Starbucks customers customize their drinks? Did you know that there is roughly over 100 recipes to learn as a Starbucks barista? Now, I'm right up there debating the correct recipes with partners (we call all Starbucks employees partners). When I go in to work tomorrow I should be receiving a beautiful 1 year pin.


• Starbucks HQ - Wednesday last week, that would be 9/15, I headed off to Starbucks world to get some live, on-site training. I was the lucky chosen one to be trained to be a Learning Coach. This means I'm Starbucks certified to train new partners. It was next door to the headquarters. The training was fun, and a nice change of pace. The better part was heading over to HQ afterwards to check out the Partner Store. This is a store in HQ that is cool stuff just for us to purchase - t-shirts, sweaters, pens, keychains, etc. First you have to check in with the receptionist on the 8th floor. Then you are personally escorted to the store on the 5th floor. It felt like a secret society. I went a little crazy and bought too much probably. I did get myself a black polo with the Starbucks logo, which I can wear at work and feel professional.


• The Bus Chase - Just as the bullet title says, I chased a bus last week. I was standing there waiting for my bus #3 17, when I saw it taking off. Where did it come from? Did it even stop? I think it must have stopped behind some buses way down at the end of the block. Two other guys were banging the bus, but it just drove onward. I said to myself, "screw this, I'm getting on that bus. I'm not waiting any long. I want to get HOME!" So I grabbed hold of my Timbuk2 bag on my shoulder and sprinted off after it. I tried to think ahead like, "which bus stop is next?" I just missed it at two stops, but then I knew where I could intersect it. And by golly, I caught up. It was a decenter 6 blocks of running, but I got on that bus. I think one of the passengers knew that I ran because he gave me a little smile as I sat breathing deeply, catching my breath. I conquered!