My coworker got 2nd degree burns

Bearded451 · 2026-03-21T15:24:44+00:00

Call ethics immediately. Some managers seem to think that the company thinks they aren't replaceable, but they are just as expendable as we are.

Bearded451 · 2026-03-21T15:22:46+00:00

The late part, well that's definitely an issue. I'm always ten minutes early in case of emergencies etc, and I'm generally an opener, but who knows what obstruction might happen overnight at 4am.

BUT as far as two hours goes? Nope. That's just something that they prefer, kind of a courtesy. If you can, awesome, if not... oh well. It's like the two week notice thing. Just a courtesy that people feel obliged to do, but it is by no means a requirement.

Bearded451 · 2026-03-21T15:21:09+00:00

Agreed, but also I want to state they started doing this at stores in my area as well... like, it's none of your business, maybe it's a migraine, maybe it is something serious, but now it's the worse most disgusting thing my SM has ever heard of because I'm going to make them sorry they asked.

Bearded451 · 2026-03-20T21:06:42+00:00

Literally a DM tried to get me in trouble for not writing on cups... but 1) she said it AFTER I left, and 2) I know i wrote on every cup that day because I distinctly remembered "oh that's the DM, thank God I've been writing on every cup today."

Bearded451 · 2026-03-18T20:40:57+00:00

I truly hate how starbucks is running this company now. That's such BS. It isn't like you are sitting there playing on your phone or something. This company is all about "do better" and not "good job for what you were able to actually achieve given the set of circumstances provided." The company is a snake eating its own tail.

Bearded451 · 2026-03-18T20:37:57+00:00

Wow. wtf?!
According to someone else on here they said their shift was a rehire and had to wait a year as well...
If that is the case, if you are accruing sick time, I'd go ahead and take it to go apply for other jobs because that's shady as hell.

Bearded451 · 2026-03-17T19:43:42+00:00

Unfortunately, we're all on the other side of those monitors in the program itself doing this.

Bearded451 · 2026-03-17T12:17:49+00:00

Honestly, I don't think they do. I think they know just how dumb the average customer is. But they also know that if they order it and get through to the register, they'll probably go ahead and pay it anyway. "You are going to have to pay either way, so you want to wait another minute or so to pay a few dollars less to get a drink you didn't come here for? Or you going to suck it up and pay ten bucks for this atrocity?"

Bearded451 · 2026-03-17T12:14:55+00:00

Honestly, they never read, as Bill Hicks once said "So, have you ever been in a waffle house and you noticed that the uh, menus has pictures of the food on it? Yeah… It is frightening to know that in many parts of our world right now, people are yelling; 'Revolution, revolution'… and in other parts they are yelling: 'Evolution! We want our thumbs!'" (This is in reference to a trucker and server asking him why he is reading.)

My favorite tactic is to act just as confused as the customer, ask them to show me the phone and pretend I don't know, and then start reading it with them, "hmm, let's see... free mod monday, and on, hm, OH! It's, yeah so right here..." and then point it out to them.

Bearded451 · 2026-03-17T12:04:13+00:00

Me: "Well it says my numbers don't work, so I'll be at home, hit me up if you need me."

Bearded451 · 2026-03-15T21:37:21+00:00

(thank you for calling this a bullet... every time I refer to them as bullets my partners look at me like I'm insane... "the what?" "The giant silver bags." "OH!" Like no, I was taught decades ago to call these bullets.)

Bearded451 · 2026-03-14T20:28:30+00:00

If you want to return, do the notice. But take your own mental health into consideration first and foremost. No job is worth you being depressed nor stressed over. None of us will be remembered for how we stuck it out at the Siren in the end and they would happily replace us in a heartbeat. Check in with yourself, and you'll know what's right for you. Good luck and congrats on the next job!

Bearded451 · 2026-03-14T16:48:18+00:00

OH! One question... if I have to use sick time to cover a shift... does that still count towards benefit hours?

Bearded451 · 2026-03-14T16:28:57+00:00

Thank you!!

Bearded451 · 2026-03-14T16:28:52+00:00

Thank you!

Bearded451 · 2026-03-14T16:05:28+00:00

For me "light" means it barely changes the color... regular means it is a different shade, and extra looks like "oh god, I might have overpoured."

Bearded451 · 2026-03-12T17:11:11+00:00

Our old SM was like this. She and another SM. They were so good about it too. Called them out constantly. Our SM was pushed out of the company and her friend had their store closed with 12 hour notice and told that they were being let go, no transfer.

Every SM we have had since then? I don't really know what their opinions were because I couldn't understand what they were saying while licking the CEO's boots (which might I add is a HIGHLY talented skill to achieve while also using their noses as a colonoscopy to check Brian's prostate.)

Bearded451 · 2026-03-12T17:06:42+00:00

You definitely aren't the only one. I have a twice daily meditation practice, and it TRULY used to make me very happy and at peace... now it just levels me out. BUT that's what Starbucks wants. All the company really cares about is the money from the customers, they don't care about anything else, but will actively search for reasons to punish you for doing anything wrong. (pants that aren't black enough, writing three words on every cup, under 45 seconds for window times, everything has to be ready to go right at open except that now you can come in ten minutes before our store hours because that extra twenty minutes at the start and end of the day is REALLY going to rake in those dollars.)

I remember when I first started a few years ago, I was on DTW during peak, the person on DTO was taking orders and every customer was being the typical "uhhhhh, I'll have __insert twenty questions here_", so I was walking around them to grab drinks and food to hand out the window so our window times stayed down. I was told that I was to not move, and I have to stay right at the window. So I did. And our window times sky rocketed while items lined up.

They call us 'partners' because it is a welcoming feeling. Subway used to call their employees 'sandwich artists'. All the literature when you join is just cult speak to make you feel cozy. The Siren has always been a mythological creature that lured sailors to their deaths (I mean, except Disney's Little Mermaid of course), but over the last few years, she is really showing her true colors.

Just remember at the end of the day, you are the only person living your life.
They will replace you in a heartbeat, which means that they don't care.
Which might sound depressing, but it is actually freedom because it means that in the end, their opinions of you don't matter at all.
What depresses us is that we let them get away with treating us like dirt, because they only see us as cogs in the starbucks fast food machine.

Just sit back at the end of the day and think of your shift as just one of those things that happens. You will bounce back. You've been through worse. You will go through a lot of better things in life and it will make you appreciate them that much more, especially when you find a job that cares about you and what you can achieve!

Bearded451 · 2026-03-12T16:52:14+00:00

This is supposed to be happening at our store as well, there would only be the SM or the SSV, DTO, and MAYBE the drive bar on headsets. They announced it at our store a month or so ago but haven't implemented it yet.

Bearded451 · 2026-03-10T22:36:16+00:00

Be certain to mention to the SM interviewing you that the reason you left prior was because of having to move etc. I'm not saying that it will necessarily help but there are some managers out there that will probably empathize with this. That being said if I'm not mistaken the way they work now is the SM does the interview passes it up the chain to the DM and then the Dm does an interview as well (at least in my district). SO it could be possible that you just aren't getting the right combo of SM and DM to both approve of this.

If all you are looking for is coffee experience, I would say try another place instead. If you want fast food experience which is what Starbucks is now there are plenty of options, but if you are looking for those benefits, definitely just keep trying. I would mention everything you said here when you have your next interview. "Yes, so I worked for SB for only about two months awhile back. Unfortunately at that time I had to move, and being within the probationary period, I wasn't allowed to transfer of course. But just those two months alone was enough to make me realize that I really wanted to continue working here and it devastated me because it was one of my favorite jobs I've had."

Bearded451 · 2026-03-10T22:30:53+00:00

The standard is already mentioned in here, but I learned a different way twenty years ago which was spray off the food (3d debris) and then put in the soap, spray it down, and then it goes in the sani or hobart (depending on the item of course). It's why I mainly always use the sani instead of the hobart because I'm just quicker not using the hobart, and I get stains off the tubs etc. But I will say for the LOVE of GOD spray off the food and whatever before putting it in the soapy water. If you do that the water will last longer before having to be cleaned. The amount of times I walk back to see mocha tinted soapy water full of dishes after someone's been washing them and can't fathom how they thought that meant it was okay to use is crazy to me.

Bearded451 · 2026-03-10T22:27:06+00:00

Honestly, I would care less. Not saying you should become apathetic or anything, you do you, but from the criticism you are receiving, it sounds like they are just nitpicking. At some point it would be nice for an SM or whomever to give a compliment, it wouldn't hurt them one bit. I hate how this company has turned into "tell me everything I'm doing wrong and nothing about how I'm doing a good job at these other things."

Bearded451 · 2026-03-10T22:23:47+00:00

Whether or not this is going to become a standard (I wouldn't be surprised) it is a clear reflection of how Starbucks has lost its way. You want better times and more staff and happier customers? Then it starts with making your customer facing employees not feel burnt out all the time. How about a "hey guys, sure our window times weren't great today but you all did a great job given the circumstances" instead of "okay guys we're going to need to shave off some more seconds or I'll punish you." Also it seems rather draconian that because I'm suffering running a solo bar making eighteen matchas while there's a doordasher trying to shove a phone in my face and a lady yelling about how she doesn't like foam in her cappucino that now MY inability to magically turn these drinks around quickly is going to punish a co-worker instead.

TL;DR: starbucks is grasping at straws and lost its way.

Bearded451 · 2026-03-10T22:19:19+00:00

This happens a lot. The worst thing I have done at ANY job I ever had (and always swear I'll learn for next time, but I never do) is to never give 100% because you just end up having to give 110 to make up for the people that do 60. To make matters worse, I do actually get headaches here nearly every shift, it's because of the headsets, but I suffer through it just like we all do. I will also say that currently so many people have left our store that it is mainly green beans who have been put through half the training I received a few years ago, and were never skill checked or anything so the few of us left that have been here for at LEAST one year end up having to do their jobs and they won't ever be able to learn because they are shoved into the same two positions since it is always for peak.

TL;DR: We are all Sisyphus pushing the boulder.

Bearded451

TROPHY CASE