We've been hearing these same "get off your cellphone when in line" and "stop asking questions! It's scribbled on our cutesy sandwich board outside!!" gripes for the last 15 years. Very original, you must've thought. If these things irritate you, switch occupations because they aren't going to stop. If you get to annoy me with shitty indie rock, I get to annoy you with my phone call. If I have to listen to you drone on to your co-worker about how your boyfriend was so hungover this morning he vomited all over your Yeah Yeah Yeah's hoodie, the least you can do is suck it up like a grown ass adult when someone has a question you feel you're too high and mighty to answer. You're in the service industry, this is your job.
PS: Before you lecture people on "Reading, we all learned it in grade school", please ensure you understand the difference between you're and your. I couldn't help but read your letter in Alicia Silverstone's voice ala Clueless. Good luck clawing your way out of the barista abyss!
...and could you make my espresso the same way two days in a row? One day it's perfect, the next you over pack it and it's burnt. No wonder so many "anti-establishment" people go to Starbuck's and drink crap coffee; at least it's consistent. Worry less about people getting on with their day, do your job and be proud that you set the tone for so many people. It pays off in tips and smiles.
I feel for ya. Although you work in the food & beverage industry, that doesn't mean people should be lazy, inconsiderate or waste your time. Yes, it's your job to serve people but there is a limit. I hate the cell phoners and the people who'd rather ask you a billion questions vs read the fucking menu; because it seems that I'm always the person stuck behind said cell phoner/billion question asker.
We all learned to read huh? Some people learned it better than others I guess. Make peace with being a barista. I think you're (or your, as you would say) going to stay that way. And do you want people holding up the line reading when they have - supposedly - a live human being standing in front of them? A human working in customer service. A human who can also clean tables, and is getting paid to do so unlike said customers?
As far as the quality of customer service you provide goes, I always felt it was proportionate to the amount you are being paid. I was willing to be nice to each stranger until they did something to change that. Sometimes it's ignorance, and that's fully allowable.
But sometimes it's people being entitled and abusing the service staff due to nothing more remarkable than the novelty of Being Served. Fuck that.
And if you respond with..."go get another job," go fuck yourself. Honest observers know how shitty the job market is: if you have a job, you hold onto it.
PS: Before you lecture people on "Reading, we all learned it in grade school", please ensure you understand the difference between you're and your. I couldn't help but read your letter in Alicia Silverstone's voice ala Clueless. Good luck clawing your way out of the barista abyss!
But sometimes it's people being entitled and abusing the service staff due to nothing more remarkable than the novelty of Being Served. Fuck that.
And if you respond with..."go get another job," go fuck yourself. Honest observers know how shitty the job market is: if you have a job, you hold onto it.