All Sorts of Crazy

Life as a Starbucks barista!

I’m 18 years old. I don’t have much in the way of world experience, and I don’t know much about life. A lot of what I do know, however, I’ve seen or experienced by being a barista, and on a team of baristas, at Starbucks. Weird, I know. This isn’t just any Starbucks, though, and we aren’t just any baristas. We’re ninjas. Jelly fishing ninjas, to be exact. (More on that later.) That’s what we call ourselves anyway. At our location, we have to be. The only things we’re missing are the costumes. See, day in and day out, we serve hundreds of different customers and it can get all sorts of crazy. On top of a constant influx of customers in the morning, we also handle baristas calling in sick, running out of product (which happens a lot), equipment breaking, and coffee travelers. Oh, blessed coffee travelers. Just when you think you’re getting caught up on brewing coffee, someone orders a coffee traveler, or three, and all hope of order is thrown to the wind. We’re ninjas, of course, and restore order quickly but that doesn’t mean we don’t get a little frustrated.
On top of all of this madness are the customers. Good and bad, we see them and everything in between. With that many people coming in at any given time, we see the whole spectrum. It’s through all of our customers that I am able to see a fully functioning ecosystem of people right under my nose. There was a young couple that came in a few weeks ago, I’ll never forget them. It wasn’t long before we realized they were on their first date, and he was so proud to pay for her drink. We watched their date unfold as they got to know each other while sipping nervously on their coffee. I think it went well, they did leave together. We were all routing for them. We see our fair share of interviews, business meetings, and reunions. I am able to witness people in love, people pissed off, friends getting to know each other after time apart, people planning their weddings, writers looking for a little inspiration, basically anyone doing anything. The lobby of Hampden and Locust is always filled with the friendly rhythm of chatter, and the only time it ever empties is when we lock the doors at 10 or 11pm. I find myself accustomed to the music of words and people, and it is the silences I have begun to notice the most. Granted, some of them are a welcome break but there is nothing lonelier than silence and nothing more welcoming than people sharing a cup of coffee.
We have regulars too, lots of them. Mr. Lee, my personal favorite, is always smiling, even if he’s had to wait 20 minutes for his triple grande, nonfat, no foam, one equal latte and chocolate donut. Or Jim, our resident ½ caf quad grande Americano in a personal cup, who knows us all by name. There are more, of course, many more. What I love about each one of them is that they all brave the craziness of our store, sometimes enduring skyrocketing wait times, just to see us and interact with us. It the regulars who treat us most like actual human beings with feelings and lives, all of which they care about. We care about them too, and always offer kind words and an occasional free coffee. They have faith in us, which restores our faith in ourselves, especially since our new bosses seem to undermine our abilities at every turn. How bad can we be if so many people return?
With all of these customers, I have seen every kind of human, and it’s easy to lose faith in the human spirit after so many rude customers. We deal with the epitome of rude with some, and I know there are countless instances I stop myself from letting out a whole chain of responses to their behavior. I think that’s the hardest part of our job- biting our tongue and keeping a smile when customers throw coffee back in our face. Or are on their cell phones. Don’t even get me started on the cell phones.
Five seconds, just talk to me for five seconds while I give you your coffee. I’m nice, I promise.
Anyways, as baristas we all deal with all kinds of customers and are able to interact with hundreds of people every day. Such is the case in many jobs though, so what makes being a barista at our Starbucks different is something that isn’t apparent to the naked eye. Sometimes, when the madness nearly gets the best of us, it’s hard for us to see it ourselves. But it’s there. It’s always there. It’s the forgiveness in our eyes when a mistake on drive bar. We understand. It’s the teamwork that ensues when someone needs an extra boost. We’ve got your back. It’s the gentle squeeze when we remind each other to breathe. We’re here. It’s sticking up for each other when a customer puts us down. We’re loyal. It’s the love that lies underneath when frustrations rise to the surface. We believe in you. It’s the jellyfish, when we just need to have fun. We laugh, too. And it’s the resounding victory when we make it through another rush. We’re in this together. We’re a family. We fight together, and for each other. 
At our location, it’s easy to get frazzled, frustrated, overworked and overwhelmed. We jellyfish instead. See, the jellyfish is something I like to do when things get tense, the day gets long, or someone just needs to smile. I don’t know if everyone else feels like I do, but I think the dance of the jellyfish is the greatest thing since the disco.

I think, in some small, way, we’re more than a team on the floor. We’re intertwined in each others’ lives and we fight for each other’s happiness just like we fight for our customers. I know that if something was wrong, one of the first people I’d call would be someone from that store. It’s not like that for everyone, but I like to think we’re all there for each other as people, not just team members. And with this new management taking over and ripping the rugs right out from under us, we’re sticking together more than ever. We are baristas. We are jelly fishing ninjas. And because of this, we are some of the greatest people you will ever meet. We find ways to connect with so many people, all while juggling countless other tasks, problems, and incidences. We are Locust, we are strong, and we also make some great coffee. 
Stick that in your juice box and suck it.

Author's Note

How is the flow? Is it humorous enough? Is it a fun read?

Reviews

[Connor Samuelson]

I thought you had a very good flow and it meshed very well. You hooked me in the beginning and after that I wanted to know more about the jelly fishing ninjas haha. One thing that I did wish was more detailed was the background of that phrase. You touched on it a little bit but I was still a bit confused. Other than that I thought it was a really interesting piece and something that shows your writing capabilities. Keep it up!

[Reneé H]

Wow thank you, I'm glad you liked it! I agree, I guess the jelly fishing ninja is a little arbitrary, it's just hard to explain without sounding like a freak lol.

[Connor Samuelson]

Haha that is understandable. I just kind of wanted to know a bit more about it because it was portrayed in such a high context but left you on a bit of a cliff hanger. Although it isn't anything to stress too much about it was just a minor thing that I noticed in an otherwise flawless and creative piece

[soliloquy]

I love the humor......this is real and cool....and very funny!

[Trillian]

I thought that this was very great and humorous. I wasn't dying of laughter and rolling on the floor, but I mean the kind of humor that's brings you in to a since of familiarity with a story and the characters. Am I making sense? I hope I explained that well. Anyways, I've yet to get a job in the service industry so it's nice to read about the different experiences and sense of family among the coworkers and regulars (if that's not too far-fetched to say). Great work!