enthusiastically satisfied
I've never really been what you'd call a good barista. I'd rather entertain customers and coworkers than try to push some silly marketing agenda, sell people overpriced cups or upsell anything. I want to put in my hours, make some cash for the stockholders and not compromise my dignity.
Opportunities to compromise my dignity abound. Starbucks encourages a rah-rah atmosphere wherein foolish exercises that benefit the company are deemed "fun" by morons and toadies. Thankfully a frown and a furrowed brow, and a decision to do something of visible worth to the store can get you out of such silly exercises.
These people sometimes look at you askew when you don't want to play the reindeer games. "Why don't you want to make working fun?" they'll ask.
"What the hell is fun about that?" is my usual response. Usually 'that' isn't fun at all, but an opportunity to do something tedious and engage in my own patented brand of awkward social interaction.
The thats in question have included playing a form of bingo wherein various sampling exercises are performed, participation in selling contests (a few of which I've won without consciously trying), putting on frappucino suits (don't ask) and my near pathological resistance to the nuisance of active sampling (going out and giving away free stuff to customers, accompanied by a perky descriptions). I could go on. Every month there's at least one suggestion of annoying things we can do with our copius spare time.
Some people really, really take to this stuff. They deride you as cynical and lazy for not wishing to deal with it. Not that these people aren't usually good employees or even occasionally good company as well. It's just funny how hard it can be to give enough of a crap for some of them.
My current store is not plagued by an excessive devotion to the annoying practices of the marketing department. We have quite the opposite problems: sloth and illiteracy make sure that marketing makes few beachheads into the store. Nowadays I find myself fantasizing about cruel and unusual punishments for coworkers who don't follow basic equipment maintenance procedures and giving tedious instructions about how to make iced tea.
But that's all behind me now. I am almost a Green Apron Monkey no more. It's Funny how hard it is to not give a crap.
Opportunities to compromise my dignity abound. Starbucks encourages a rah-rah atmosphere wherein foolish exercises that benefit the company are deemed "fun" by morons and toadies. Thankfully a frown and a furrowed brow, and a decision to do something of visible worth to the store can get you out of such silly exercises.
These people sometimes look at you askew when you don't want to play the reindeer games. "Why don't you want to make working fun?" they'll ask.
"What the hell is fun about that?" is my usual response. Usually 'that' isn't fun at all, but an opportunity to do something tedious and engage in my own patented brand of awkward social interaction.
The thats in question have included playing a form of bingo wherein various sampling exercises are performed, participation in selling contests (a few of which I've won without consciously trying), putting on frappucino suits (don't ask) and my near pathological resistance to the nuisance of active sampling (going out and giving away free stuff to customers, accompanied by a perky descriptions). I could go on. Every month there's at least one suggestion of annoying things we can do with our copius spare time.
Some people really, really take to this stuff. They deride you as cynical and lazy for not wishing to deal with it. Not that these people aren't usually good employees or even occasionally good company as well. It's just funny how hard it can be to give enough of a crap for some of them.
My current store is not plagued by an excessive devotion to the annoying practices of the marketing department. We have quite the opposite problems: sloth and illiteracy make sure that marketing makes few beachheads into the store. Nowadays I find myself fantasizing about cruel and unusual punishments for coworkers who don't follow basic equipment maintenance procedures and giving tedious instructions about how to make iced tea.
But that's all behind me now. I am almost a Green Apron Monkey no more. It's Funny how hard it is to not give a crap.
posted by otis @ 9:10 PM
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