still adjusting

so, only a week at my new bux and already things are going to change.
from what i hear the district manager can be affectionately described as a "nightmare" and there has been a lot of management movement within the district. so long as it doesn't directly affect my schedule, i'm not sweating it.

today i experienced my first rush at the new bux - well, what passes for a rush in this store. my fellow baristas are good, but they aren't as fast as the partners at my old bux. they aren't slow, but they're not fast. the set up of the store is completely different, so i'm not at my usual quick pace, but i'm still a superstar.

i haven't met any partners that i dislike or rub me the wrong way, and that pleases me much. the customers are still really laid back and i've made only a fraction of the frappuccinos i'm used to making during the summer. so nice!

there are a ton of regulars at this bux who come in multiple times within the day which makes me wonder - do they have jobs? they bypass me when i asked them if i can start their drink and instead go directly to the partners they know and love. i find that funny. especially since they've seen me all week and it's finally dawning on them that i'm here to stay.

so, final assessment of new bux: good with good people.

hopefully next week doesn't hold too many surprises.

customer rant: don't try to "school" me when i come into your store. don't say "oh, you must be new" and treat me as if i have a lot to learn. guess what, smartie - not only have i been around the bean block a few times, the "information" you're doling out is incorrect! why don't you crack open those manuals in the backroom and spend your time getting your bux facts straight instead of trying to show up another (better informed) barista.

"we gonna slow things down now"

so i'm getting more of a feel for the customers that frequent my new bux. they are mostly well-to-do, artsy and young. they have money from their work as actors, dot-commers, and online trading. the slide in with their chanel sun-glasses and their louis vuitton wallets. of course they're driving jettas and audis, but still they have some cash to spare.

i've definitely noticed the difference in the tip jar. my new bux has shorter business hours than my previous bux, as well as far fewer customers, but somehow my new bux RAKES in the dough. believe me, i'm loving it.

strangely, i'm finding it hard to connect with the customers in my new bux. they are soooo laid back it's difficult to even engage them in conversation. i felt as if i were imposing on them when i asked how their day was because the responses were usually just a half smile and a "hmmmmm". i had one guy slip me a dollar bill after i took his order. slipped it to me! slid it right in the palm of my hand instead of dropping it in the tip jar. it felt akin to p.diddy pointing at me and saying "whassup" from a balcony at the chateau marmont.

so, as week one comes to a close i'm finding that although not entirely in my element, it's an element i don't mind being in because of the extra money in my pocket.

wow, i just realized something.
i'm a bux sell-out.

partner rant: we ran out of vanilla syrup twice this week. um, that's about it for my rant. this store is just too easy going - it's hard to be mad about it.

medicinal water

so i got to meet the local crazy today.

she wasn't polished, manicured or even clean so it was pretty easy to tell she wasn't part of our "normal" customer base, but that didn't stop me from being my usually upbeat bratty self.

"hi, what can i get started for you today?" i asked in my usual 'customer voice'.
"i can't drinks the coffees," she replied, showing all three of her teeth while she spoke.
"well, would you like tea? or one of our non-coffee frappuccinos?" i asked, still polite as ever.
"i can't drinks the teas. i needs the waters," she informed me.
"ok, i can get you some water." i grabbed one of our tall cups and she stopped me.
"no, i needs a big waters. it's for my bladders."
"uh, ok," i was surprised she had more than one. "sure, i can give you a venti water. did you want ice?"
"yeah, i needs ice in my waters. it's for my bladders. the doctor says i drinks too much soders."
it took me a couple seconds to realize 'soders' was supposed to be plural for 'soda'.
"ok, well good luck with that," i was trying to bid her good-bye.
"yeah, my doctor says i drinks too much soders." she repeated.
"so sorry to hear that. good luck!" i was still trying to bid her good-bye.
"pray for me! pray for my bladders!" she asked me.
"sure will!" i told her.

you think i'm going to hell because i didn't pray for her bladders?
the upside is a customer tipped us an extra two bucks because i was so nice to the local crazy.
karma, eh?

customer/partner/barista rant: so i wasn't even in your bux today but i can tell how much you suck as a partner. not only did you interrupt the customers in the sandwich shop to place your order, you were unruly, obnoxious and - quite frankly - a prick. then when it was time to pay, you made a big show of how you worked for the bux next door and that you got the "hook-up" deal: a sandwich for a buck. then you were loud as hell as you left the sandwich shop to go back over to bux. you are the reason people think baristas are jerks, in and out of the green apron.

nothing to write home about

so tonight was my first shift at my new bux.

i have learned that a harmonious work environment and polite customers make for a boring post on blogger.

so far the partners at this new store seem pretty laid back but wiling to do their job. they were all very welcoming and even a couple of the regular customers introduced themselves to me.

this bux is nowhere near a movie theatre, shopping center or ice cream parlor. that means it's very, very sllloooooowwwww.
do i mind?
hardly. it's nice to have enough time during your shift actually clean and prep everything necessary without going into overtime or working off the clock (which of course this brat will NEVER do). it's nice to have customers that aren't freaking out because their frappuccino is taking .004 seconds longer than usual. and it's really, really nice to have teenagers that are well behaved rather than unruly.

of course it will take time for me to get to know all the customers, get used to where all the product is stored and find out which partners are the bad apples.

but so you don't completely feel cheated - there was one thing of interest that happened at my new bux: i trapped then killed a fly that was in the pastry case.

customer rant: was it really necessary to throw a tantrum today? i know it was annoying that the customer in front of me ordered her drink incorrectly and then wanted you to remake it but really, did you have to huff and puff about it? as i stood before you - waiting to tell you my order - you continued to rant about the customer. when you finally calmed down and turned your attention to me, you were unfriendly and muttered "what do you want?" instead of a cheery "hi, what can i get started for you today?" if your shift is ruined by one incorrectly ordered drink, then i suggest you find another line of work. bux just seems to be too much for you.

t minus 1

tomorrow i start at the new bux. i'm not excited, i'm not dreading it, i'm not shivering with antici---pation.
no, it's just going to be another day, albeit another bux. i'm sure some of the drama will be the same and i'm sure i'll hear many of the same customer complaints. but who knows, it's in a slightly more affluent area so maybe my tips will be higher.

of course, my last shift at my old bux had to have a memorable incident.
while working on bar i noticed a woman kind of hanging about the lobby. at one point she even got in line, only to jump back out once she made it to the register. a couple times she made eye contact with me, then would continue to just hang about the store. honestly, i thought she might have been impaired in some manner because she did not look all together "there".

so after about ten frappuccinos i forgot all about her. i was too busy in that blended beverage corner we so affectionately call "hell" to think any more about her. when the register partner called me over because a customer needed "assistance" i wasn't all that surprised to see it was the afore mentioned lady.

"hi, what can i help you with?" i started in my usual 'treat the guest nicely' manner.
"yeah, i have a bone to pick with you!"
"with me?" i was genuinely curious. was she mad i didn't wave hello when she made eye contact with me?
"well, not you but with your workers last night."
"really, what happened?"
"well, i come her all the time," she started to explain and already i knew she was just some scammer looking for a freebie. "and last night i came here with my whole family and everything was wrong!"
"i'm sorry to hear that," i continued in my bux 'just say yes' voice.
"yeah, everything was wrong!" she repeated. "all the coffees, all the sizes, even the pastries!"

now, just for some insight - a good scammer has a general, yet specific story. "oh, that girl with the longish hair was rude to me and gave me the incorrect change." or "that tall guy made two tall frappuccinos instead of two ventis." this lady's story was just too general to be true. it struck me very odd that my fellow baristas were incapable of getting ONE item correct for this lady and her "family".

"yeah, i just got out of the hospital yesterday and everything was wrong!" she was trying to tug at my heartstrings, but it just wasn't working.
"i'm really sorry to hear that. how about a coffee for your trouble?" i offered, knowing full well she wanted some free drink coupons.
"uh, well they were all wrong!" she repeated again.
"oh, is your family here with you?" i asked. "i'd be happy to give them a free drip coffee as well."
"uh, no they were so mad they didn't want to come back here."

i asked the register partner to fill a grande cup with drip coffee, gave it to the lady and apologized for her experience. realizing she wasn't going to get anything else from me, she took the coffee and ran.
are you surprised?

barista rant: i know it's hot. i know you want water. so if a group of four of you walk into my bux, ask for the water all at the same friggen' time! don't ask one at a time. it is more annoying than you can possibly imagine for me to put a cup of water in front of one of you, only to have another one of you ask for a *surprise* cup of water. and then to repeat this same process two more times is not only time consuming, it's incredibly rude. just ask for four cups of water at one time, all right?

tell you what you want to hear

"but the other bux does it!" is a phrase all baristas hate to hear.

it's annoying for a variety of reasons. the first one being that customers feel if they bitch enough they'll get whatever it is their little hearts desire, whether it's a free drink or a heated up pastry. another reason is the customer's high maintenance drink is usually so time consuming, it breaks with the natural flow and our bar ends up being backed up because some individual felt we were morally obligated to humor them.

and then there's this reason: the customer doesn't realize the other bux just told them a big fat lie get them out of their store and now we are the ones left to educate annoying customer.

case in point - this morning a customer came in and ordered a chocolate brownie frappuccino, a drink that has been of the menu for a matter of YEARS. when we explained that the frappuccino most similar to the chocolate brownie is a java chip frappuccino, the customer vigorously shook her head and said "no!, i don't want the java chip, that's a totally different drink! i want the chocolate brownie!"
so, thinking that she wanted the coffee-free version of a java chip (which is called a double chocolate chip frappuccino) we asked the specifics of what she wanted in her blended mess.
"i want a frappuccino... with mocha... and chocolate brownie bits... and coffee!" she says super slow so us brain-dead baristas can understand.
"ma'am" i informed her, "we no longer carry brownie bits. what we have now are java chips."
"well the other store makes it for me!" she interrupts me by whining.

that's when the lightbulb finally clicks in my mind.
this customer is such a pain at the other bux that they felt it easier to make her a java chip and tell her it was a chocolate brownie frappuccino.
and you know what? i can feel for them, i really can. however, the problem that they attempted to eradicate has now become my problem. so, a drink order that should have taken seconds has turned into a drawn-out ordeal.

it's happened with other bux's making "blended caramel macchiatos" for customers when they are really making caramel frappuccinos. with "sugar-free frappuccinos" when they are actually making frappuccino light (that still includes sugar, mind you) and when they pretend that they've brewed a less caffeinated coffee when they really just put filled a cup halfway with decaf and halfway with regular.

education is key. i just wish the baristas at other bux's would be willing to do their part.

barista rant: how many times did i suggest you register your gift card that had over 100 dollars on it? i explained that losing the card was like losing cash, however if you registered it and it was lost, you would be sent a new card with the remaining balance. each and everytime you told me "ah, i won't lose it" and yet, what happened? yup, you lost your gift card. so, why the hell are YOU giving ME attitude? and how dare you act like you misunderstood me and thought you could register it AFTER it was lost. sorry, but you get no sympathy from me. you get no free drink for your pain, either.

the end is near...

so, as my last week in my current bux winds down, i've thought a lot about my different experiences here. i've learned a lot, i've laughed a lot, and i've wanted to throw hot coffee on people - a lot.

and just because i've loved all this reminiscing, i will share my most memorable moments with you.

my top favorite moment was when our loyal customer came to our rescue. not only did he defend us baristas against a crazy complaining customer, he picked the guy up in a bear hug and physically removed him from our premises. yeah, that loyal customer is golden!

my least favorite cleaning moment was when a kid got sick in our bathroom. instead of throwing up in the toilet, he thought the sink would suit him better. when he realized his chunks were too large for the sink drain, he ran hot water over his mess trying to melt the chunks. so by the time he called a barista over to help him, the bathroom stank of hot puke. ugh. the sink was full of hot water and chunks so i had to get a fork to extract the chunks from the drain. of course i had to take many breaks just to clear my lungs. by far the most disgusting experience i've had at bux.

my least favorite moment on bar wasn't when we were understaffed and had a line out the door (this sort of thing happens at least twice weekly), nor was it the time we were out of espresso beans, soy milk and vanilla syrup. no, my least favorite time on bar was when i steamed a large pitcher of extra hot nonfat milk and one of my fellow baristas knocked it over, drenching me with the scalding liquid. oh - and we had a line out the door at the time.

my favorite holiday moment was the first christmas my bux was open for business (previously christmas was the only day we were closed). not only did our regular customers bring us gifts, muffins, cookies and gingerbread men, but business was so slow that it felt more like a bunch of friends hanging out rather than a bunch a baristas working during a holiday.

my favorite manager karma moment was when a particularly horrendous manager was fired. yeah, he only lasted a matter of weeks in my store, and really - he should have known better.

my favorite customer karma moment was when a bitchy customer (who made our lives hell while she was ordering and re-ordering her drinks) put her frappuccino on the top of her car while she strapped her kid in the childseat. of course the drink slid of the roof and fell onto her, drenching her in the process. i admit - i loved it.

my favorite tipping moment was when a guy called and asked if i could order gift cards over the phone and have them ready for pick-up. normally we don't do that, but the guy was buying 50 gift cards and i realized it would take forever if we did them while he was in the store. the guy was so happy that they were ready by the time he got to the store, he put ten bucks in the tip jar and tipped me an additional twenty bucks. of course i shared the twenty bucks with my fellow baristas, but it was cool the guy was so appreciative.

thankfully the good memories out number the bad ones.

barista rant: how many times do we have to go over this? hang up the damn telephone when you order your drink! if you refuse to hang it up, at least tell the person on the phone to hang on while you talk to the barista. don't continue your phone conversation, then mouth something totally indiscernible to me, expecting that i'll know whatever the hell it is you want to drink. don't get pissed at me when i try and clarify your order. don't toss your money at me because you can't be bothered to hand it to me like a civilized person. excuse me if i didn't hear you whisper "make it decaf" while you talked about your manicure to your phone friend. if you put down the phone, i'm sure i'll better understand you next time.

newbies do the dumbest things

as promised: the nominees for dumbest newbie mistakes. some of these may involve some backstory.

- newbie who made the mistake of asking the assistant manager (not realizing, of course that she was speaking to the assistant manager) if she wanted a smoothie from the store next door because she'd already hooked-up the smoothie place "a bunch a times" and they owed her.
- newbie who had her mother call in sick for her, only to show up to get a drink before she went to the beach.
- newbie who made all drinks with regular espresso, even when there were supposed to be made decaf. his excuse: "so what? it still tastes the same."
- bux makes our own whipped cream and we use these special gas chargers to do it. it's easy: put charger in cap, twist until you hear gas released into container, toss charger. so, when we kept coming across "dead" chargers we thought the charger company was gypping us, sending us empty cartridges instead of full ones. well, we soon figured out newbie was putting used chargers back into the drawer to be used again. see, she thought there was an unlimited amount of gas in each charger, and once the cartridge was punctured it would re-seal itself. are you surprised she lasted less than a month?
- newbie who made every frappuccino a size too big so he could drink the excess. of course he was ready to puke by the end of the night.
- bux has many baristas that work more than one job. just so happens one newbie also had a job at the bagel place two doors down. well, newbie called to say that there was a death in the family and she couldn't come in for work. imagine the lead's surprise when he went to buy a bagel and newbie was the one to take his order?
- newbie who was being trained on how to make frappuccinos and how to top them properly with whipped cream. when he was told to clean the excess whipped cream off the lid of the frappuccino, he scooped it off with his finger and then licked his finger clean. right in front of the customer AND the manager.
- newbie who was covering a shift at a different bux and thought she could get away with breaking the rules at a store that wasn't her own. too bad for her the district manager who came if for a coffee saw her eating and drinking while she rang up customers.
- newbie who asked "um, just out of curiosity, what would happen if they found out you lied on your application and found out you didn't really quit your last job but got fired for stealing?"

i'd love to hear any newbies stories you might have. i know it's super easy to tell when your barista is new.

barista rant: are you kidding me? please - let me know what was going through your mind when you pulled every single toilet seat liner out of the holder and placed them on top of the trashcan. not IN the trashcan but ON it. was it supposed to be modern art? was it supposed to be some statement about bathroom waste? or are you just an idiot who felt it was necessary to do something to prove that you'd been in the bux bathroom?

memories...

so, with just over a week left in my store, i've been fondly (or not so fondly as the case may be) reminiscing over past barista, customer and partner experiences.

the nominees in the "stupidest customer category" are:

- the lady who refused to call a frappuccino by it's name, instead insisting it's called a 'CRAPuccino'. it would be funny if she hated the things, but no - she actually drank them all the time.
- the lady who drank the blackberry green tea frappuccino even though she's deathly allergic to blackberries and ended up in the hospital each time she drank one.
- the man who waited ten minutes for his 'espresso brownie' drink, not realizing an espresso brownie is a pastry and that he had been clutching it the whole ten minutes he waited.
- the teen who asked if we carded for caffeine.
- the teen who argued with my awesome assistant manager that a white chocolate coffee based frappuccino was a totally different than drink than a white mocha frappuccino.
- the customer who asked me if we sold cigarettes.
- the customer who asked for a totally sugarless and syrupless latte, then complained that it wasn't sweet.
- the lady who argued with me that tea doesn't have caffeine since they are made from leaves and herbs.
- the lady who complained because our coffee cake didn't have coffee in it.
- the man who tried to get me to add his smuggled kahlua into his frappuccino.
- the teen who asked if i would give him a free drink because his friend worked at the coffee bean up the street.
- the customer who got pissed because there was milk in his kid's cocoa. he though we made instant hot chocolate with hot water.
- the man who insisted on an 18 second shot, even though we explained 20 times that our machines are now automatic.
- the lady who wanted to drink her latte from a ceramic mug, so she pulled one of the display case. when i explained that it was merchandise and she would have to purchase the mug if she wanted her drink in it, she replied "well, can't you just rinse it out when i've finished with it? i'm sure the person who buys it will never know."
- the teen who tried to get a free drink by flirting.
- the teen who wanted a discount because he was a christian.

i'm sure i've left quite a few off the list, but these are the most memorable in my mind. tomorrow will be the nominees for stupidest newbie mistakes.

barista rant: so yeah, you're upset that i'm leaving this bux. but don't yell out "i hate you! how can you do this to me?". i'm sorry if this feels like a divorce to you. i'm sorry that you're not happy with how my fellow baristas make your drink. just remember: it's not you - it's me.

sucky bux

i love working for bux, i really do. i can't think of any other part-time job that gives you benefits, grants you stock and gives paid time off for vacation.
so, when my friend was hired at a bux near me i was happy for him. but that all changed very quickly. you see, not all bux are created equal.

my friend had the unfortunate experience of going to a sucky bux. the kind where the employees are cranky, the manager is clueless and ethics don't exist.
not only did they improperly train him (and mind you, bux has spent a lot of money developing and creating training manuals and techniques that ALL stores are to use), his assistant manager tried to get him to sign a piece of paper stating he will not be a barista but a janitor.

oh yeah, you read that right.
they want him to do floor runs, take the trash out, clean drains and scrub the toilets. and they want him to sign his name agreeing to it!

for anyone who might not know - there is NO such janitor position in bux. everyone is a barista and every barista should do floor runs, take the trash out, clean drains and scrub the toilets. i do it, managers worth their salt do it, newbies do it - basically, everyone in a green apron does it.
not only do baristas clean, they prep, they make drinks and they serve customers. because my friend's bux is a sucky bux, they've decided to make up their own rules and regulations. because my friend is new and not part of their particular clique, they are trying to get him to do all the grunt work.

apparenlty he's got a meeting with the store manager next week. it could be a sit down discussion in which his progress is discussed, or it could be just a formality for when they hand him his final paycheck. if it's the latter, i've already well informed him that what he's experience is NOT standard and i've given him a course of action to follow in case they try to fire him.

the tragedy is this guy was really keen to work for bux. now, of course, he's sour on the experience. but the real loser is bux. not only do they have idiots running one of their stores, their reputation as a great employer is being ruined by the likes of these idiots.

customer rant: i know working with friends is fun. i know joking around is fun. but please remember that customers don't come to bux to hear you shout, shriek or scream. we are here to relax and chat with friends over a cup of coffee. we do not want our conversations, our book reading, our paper writing to be interrupted multiple times by the baristas shouting dumb jokes to one another. this is the customers' third place, not your house party - ok?

brat moves bux!

today i won't rant about my bux.

nope.
you won't hear me complaining about the fact that my store is literally falling apart, how the schedule STILL is in desperate need of a skillful eye, how the newbies seem to be floundering instead of flourishing, how our orders still are inadequate, how we don't have enough management staff, how the best managements staff are gone/leaving, how all around the backroom there are stupid little notes left from my manager to "inspire" us baristas to work harder and sell more.

no, i will not be complaining about my bux because in just a matter of weeks i will have a new bux to complain about - uh, i mean discuss.

that is correct! barista brat has found a new bux to hang her apron at.
you might wonder if it was the manager, crappy ordering, poorly designed store, or lazy newbies that prompted the move - and yes, you would be correct.
but, oh, it's so much deeper than that!
my bux was once so wonderful to work at. even though a team of chimpanzees could have designed a better floorplan, it was hardly bothersome because we had a crew that all got along and ran like clockwork, a manager that really knew how to manage, and great loyal customers.
it's not as if all that is gone now, but a lot of it is. and the parts that aren't missing only happen about 40% of the time. i found myself loathing the hour i'd have to begin my shift, and that's never happened to me before at bux. i realized it was just time for me to move on because it was so depressing to come to work everyday and see what a mess it had become when once it was so grand.

so, it will be fun to embark on a new bux adventure with all of you. i know my new bux isn't perfect (part of the reason why they're sending me there - because i'm a bomb ass barista!) and i'm sure i will have plenty to rant about. i still have a couple weeks left at my current bux, but already i'm not hating going to work everyday because i know i will soon be out of there.

i just hope it doesn't turn out to be worse than my current bux!

customer rant: your pastry case was leaking water. i figured i'd just let you know since it wouldn't be pretty if a customer slipped and fell in the large puddle that had formed. so why the attitude when i pointed the leak out to you? why the heavy sigh followed by a "we know ALREADY!". if you knew ALREADY, why didn't you mop up the water? why didn't you put towels down to stop the leak? why wasn't your 'wet floor' sign out? excuse me for trying to be helpful. it's obvious that you ALREADY don't care.

the scam stops here

today i had a newbie on register. right in the middle of a huge rush an older man plops a bag right on the counter and tells newbie he needs a refund.
having never done a return before, newbie asks me for help.
i can see the older man shift uncomfortably when he sees he'll be dealing with me, and not the newbie.

"i want to return these two mugs," he informs me and hands me the receipt.
now, the first thing i do when handling a return is check the date on the receipt. if the items were purchased more than 30 days before, i can only issue store credit.
so, looking at the receipt i noticed it was dated 7/05/06.

that's right. he purchased the mugs earlier in the day.
well, not exactly 'purchased'. upon closer inspection, i saw he had brought back a more expensive mug and exchanged it for the two mugs he was trying to return in my bux.

"ok," i tell newbie. "you push 'return', enter the sku for the two mugs and then total it out. now you hit the button for store credit - "
"no!" the man interrupted me. "i paid cash for them! i want cash back, not store credit! store credit is useless to me!"
"oh, i'm sorry sir, but i can only give you store credit - "
"no!" he interrupts me again. "i paid cash!"
"i'm sorry, but the receipt doesn't reflect that you paid cash. it only shows that you returned a mug and exchanged them for these two."
"well, what happened was my wife wanted a mug, so i bought one of those big ones, and then she said she wanted one with a handle, so i got her these two but i guess these are the wrong kind and she wants me to return them."
"i understand, and i would give you cash back if i could," i totally lied, but since i knew he was lying to me i didn't feel the slightest bit guilty. "but the computer system won't allow me to do that since the receipt doesn't show a cash transaction."
"well, they took my original receipt that showed i paid cash!"
"oh, well you should go back to that store. they probably still have the receipt and you can get cash back from them." i told him, knowing full well no such receipt existed.

scammer man left unhappy, and without cash in his pocket.
i then explained to newbie that a common scam is to steal a mug, take it to a bux and and exchange it for something different - then go to ANOTHER bux and try to either fool or intimidate the register partner into giving back cash.
the very sad thing is it works more often than it should, which is why the scam will continue.

customer rant: your condiment bar is right across from the registers. that means every time you ring someone up, you are facing the condiment bar. i know you're not visually impaired, so i can only assume you are failing to do your duty. why the hell is your condiment bar such a mess?!? how can you stand directly across from it and not be bothered by the trash overflowing, the granules of sugar spilled across the top, and the containers with dried milk on the side? please, do your job or quit.

deserved day off!

i'm so lucky i managed 4th of july off!
what a great way to reset after a holiday weekend that felt tortuous.

we started friday off with only 1 working blender. now, my bux is a high volume frappuccino bux, so with the addtion of the new juice blended drinks, as well as the hundred of other blended drinks we offer, it was hell doing it all on one blender since the other blender died on us. i can't even describe the anxiety that builds when you see a line of twenty frappuccinos - all totally different - and realizing you have to make then one at a time because some manager dropped the ball and forgot to back stock blenders for weekends just like this.

by saturday we realized the manager (who decided to take the entire weekend off because of the leadership conference, which only actually lasted thursday and friday) had neglected to schedule us properly. this meant many, many phone calls to get borrowed partners to fill the missing shifts. unfortunately, the people willing to take the shifts were far from stellar and our store looked like a hurricane hit by the end of the night.

sunday seemed to start of smoothly, but it soon became evident that we were going to run out of key product before noon, so the morning was spent calling other stores and then driving to them for product.
i wish i could say that was the worst of the worst for sunday - but no.
looking at the schedule for the closing shifts, it became evident that we would need to find a closing lead. why? because the closing lead (borrowed from another bux) that was scheduled had been fired three days earlier.
that's right. my manager scheduled someone she knew wouldn't be able to work the shift since his manager informed my manager that he was on his way out.

i guess karma isn't to be messed with because guess who had to drag their ass into bux and close the store?
that's right - my manager.
and i didn't feel the slightest bit bad for her, either.

so, today i am watching world cup and tour de france - then it's fireworks time.
i am going to enjoy a frappuccino-free day, that's for sure.

barista rant: don't give me attitude because i didn't say hi to you at our local market the other day! guess what? i'm PAID to be nice and welcoming at bux. on my days off i don't wear a green apron. if you saw me at ralphs, and if i failed to notice you standing in the cereal aisle, well - get over it! don't get pissed because i didn't recognize you and ask how your day was. if you tipped more often, it would probably be easier to remember you.