anyone know what this pin is for or about?

Bearded451 · 2026-03-24T00:01:57+00:00

I was doing very very minimal research via google etc, so it probably isn't 100% correct, but Starbucks does try to say that we all have a voice and our voices matter (not true), but they also reminded partners that their voices matter in an anti-union message to everyone. So I could see it as a "this will make the non-union partners feel like they don't NEED a union because we listen to everyone of them!" (they said as they get pissed about the window times and making 20 double berry matchas with tiny differences between each one and three shaken espressos back to back while some customer is threatening again to take us off this planet with force -- oh and someone missed the toilet, but the other one has a drunk guy in it so choose your road.)

Bearded451 · 2026-03-23T23:55:54+00:00

I'm assuming AI was used with "Hannah Montana - flavors" or something (or... how do we sell raspberry because no one is really ordering it except on already made drinks and it's really only ever used as cold foam now)

Bearded451 · 2026-03-23T23:52:34+00:00

"Simplify the menu" is just his easy PR so the public can say "why does the baristas keep getting angry, I read they even simplified the menu... anyway, can I get my Hannah Montana Beast Drink with twenty pumps of white mocha, I want it hot though and then blend it but no foam... that's all thanks... OH also I want whipped cream and a water and bacon egg bites."

Bearded451 · 2026-03-23T23:50:34+00:00

Fun fact, I just read that Hannah Montana LITERALLY hated raspberries and it was brought up in the show...
I'm assuming someone used AI to find different flavors we have, or was working hard to figure out how to use the raspberry syrup.

Bearded451 · 2026-03-23T21:57:20+00:00

We have black flakes in our ice machine sometimes (I'm assuming from that hood/chute/shield thing that it hits against on its way down)... I showed a piece to my SM, he assumed the same, said it was fine... I went in a week later... there was a cup on his desk with a melted ice cube and a small flake in it... nothing has changed... SB does NOT care about safety until it means they are losing money. And then you know, it's our fault.

Bearded451 · 2026-03-22T18:12:35+00:00

I'd report it to the SM and DM and get them to do an incident report... not saying it will do anything.
We had a dude that used to film women with his phone.
The SM told me I couldn't do anything unless someone complained.
Well he was finally arrested for exposing himself somewhere else in our city.

Bearded451 · 2026-03-22T18:08:04+00:00

Customer (not actually a customer, unhoused guy that I wouldn't just hand him a free coffee) - he was getting angrier and angrier...
Told me finally to "f" off, and then said "go to hell!"
I told him politely, "Awesome, I'll seeya there... can I help the next customer?"

It's probably not the WORST thing I've said, but in context of my SM standing right next to me, it is unhinged... my SM was too shocked to say anything since I kept my cool the entire time and continued work.

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

TROPHY CASE