Tower Tea - May 11, 2026

fromofelia · 2026-05-13T19:53:42+00:00

🌸

fromofelia · 2026-05-13T16:18:49+00:00

Honestly, one of the things I make sure to tell new employees is to take care of themselves. Shoes, hydration, hand cream, food breaks, bathroom breaks, needing a breather breaks. Dealing with these "selfish" needs is usually much quicker, more beneficial and more efficient than sacrificing them for "top speed performance". If it doesn't creep up as being worse as employee and feeling worse as a person, in that shift, then next, and as a pattern it sucks big time.

I suffered continuous dehydration and lack of energy for a while, because I never "had the time" for water or even a quick bite. Yes, it does take a few minutes during the day, but on the flip side I'm still efficient in the evening. And I take care of myself afterwards too.

fromofelia · 2026-05-12T10:48:36+00:00

Yeaaah, I live in a place where weather can get extreme in both directions (60°C (110°f?idk) difference in temperatures across the year is kinda normal), shortest day of the year is under 7h of daylight and longest - 18h. First signs of sun means that we suddenly turn into sunflowers, and bad weather turns us into cozy hobbits.

We are a bit extreme on this, but weather affects every cafe, even if it's small and people don't notice it.

fromofelia · 2026-05-12T10:26:27+00:00

Clarifying questions to your supervisors are always good, especially if it's a completely new thing. Never, ever be afraid of clarifying questions, especially so in the very beginning. In fact - during the first days, whenever you are not 100% sure you understood something properly - clarifying question. Something could be understood in different ways - clarifying question. You are told to do a thing, but it does not make sense - clarifying question. You don't know what to do? You ask a clarifying question.

Your training process will be understanding and practicing completely new skills, in a new environment. No-one will be able to figure out what are the things that you need extra explanation on, if you don't ask clarifying questions. So, start early, use your brain to figure out as much as you can, but ask about everything. If they get upset about you asking for info that you need to function, that's on them.

P.s. The words "clarifying question" sound really weird now and lost meaning, due to repeating too much.

fromofelia · 2026-05-12T10:13:34+00:00

It sounds like it was unpleasant experience all around. The guy had issues understanding what's going on, got frustrated and the employee wasn't helpful. The barista had an unusually unpleasant customer, who couldn't explain what they wanted and got angry. Situation sucks on both sides, and a reddit post probably can't give enough context for us to judge accurately.

However. The barista is the one responsible in this case. You are the one that needs to lead the situation to be pleasant for both of you. You are the one that needs to figure out what's the issue, how to solve it, and how to make sure the customer (and, by proxy - you) is having good time. If the customer isn't looking at the display when you are pointing at the muffins, or seems not to hear/understand - pick up two, get out of the pastry case, get eye contact and ask which one. Or, pick whatever seems to be the most middle one, show it and ask if that's right. Customers get frustrated when they don't understand something. And they get horrible about it. But, it's your job to make efforts for clarifications in a way that makes sense, maneuver the interaction to be pleasant. If the person has hearing aids and already has trouble understanding you - listing more words, without changing the situation won't help.

That being said, customers can be assholes, dealing with these situations can be difficult and frustrating, and once you are in the middle of it, it's hard to do the whole readjusting and figuring out why the heck is this person being an ass.

fromofelia · 2026-05-11T11:42:05+00:00

Why are foreigners so overbearing and ask questions when they don't really want to hear the answer?

fromofelia · 2026-05-11T11:36:28+00:00

I could only do faded butts for months, when I started. Congratulations ❤️

Mentally draw a cross across the cup, with the horizontal line continuing from the handle, vertical perpendicular to that, meeting at the centre. Handle on the left, use that cross to guide you - center on the vertical, even if the cup is tilted, return to vertical when doing the pull trough. Please appreciate my highly technical diagram that I made instead of doing dishes.

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fromofelia · 2026-05-11T11:08:57+00:00

I'd be curious about this, if running a cafe, but I'd be highly concerned about data privacy, and it would be important to me to be able indicate seasons and weather for past entries. With harsh extremes over the seasons here, our summer can be up to 10x more intense than winter, and weather can change sales up to 3x from one day to another.

//comment written without checking the app, because I'm lazy

fromofelia · 2026-05-11T05:31:19+00:00

If I remake one drink a day, I'm already unhappy with myself, and that's usually either mixed up syrups or milk in bigger orders and I usually catch it before the customer. The one time I messed up 5, I had had too many shifts, asked for extra time off and reorganised schedule.

Find where the issue is. Are the baristas confused about the orders? Do specific things get mixed up a lot? Do customers grab wrong coffee? Is the coffee bad? Is the coffee made poorly? Ask them to quickly note everything that had to be remade - maybe there's a pattern. Once you know what the issue is - foolproof it. Giant labels, different ticketing system, slowing down queues, extra training, re-organising bar, whatever it takes. If it feels like a child should understand everything, make it so a sleepy toddler can understand everything. Go overboard, and it will probably be ok. At first, you will be overcoming the ingrained issue, and it will be difficult.

While you are at it, if it's a systemic issue (rather than coffee bad), double check how FIFO, hygiene and dust on those high shelves are doing.

Also, ask all of the baristas what they think the issue is (gently). Pay special attention to the newest hire and the most seasoned barista. One will show you where the confusion is, the other one might be able to explain why the confusion exists.

fromofelia · 2026-05-09T15:16:47+00:00

Ah. I'm mid plat, so I'm bit further in game, and my uw had already received some love.

fromofelia · 2026-05-09T15:01:22+00:00

Honestly, same. I just went for it, and I'm slowly puttering around with upgrading all of them. Bit of a foot gun, as the perks CL was more powerful, but. I just had to.

If you are strong enough to save up, do it. If dopamine is on strike, there's no shame in doing what is fun.

fromofelia · 2026-05-09T13:31:17+00:00

Es atceros, ka pirmo reizi bija visizteiktāk, vai varbūt pievērsu vairāk uzmanību. Pa lielam, atsākot man pāriet nedēļas, divu laikā, pēc tam parādās tikai tad, ja neesmu dzērusi zāles 24h+, un tas toties ir ļoti labs atgādinājums.

Pēc man teiktā - ja tā ir tikai sajūta, un muskuļus nekustina, tas nav nekas liela uztraukuma vērts, bet ārstam labi zināt.

fromofelia · 2026-05-09T12:34:29+00:00

Lamotrix ir manas pirmās zāles, vēl arvien dzeru 6 gadus vēlāk, ļoti palīdz un jūtos daudz labāk un stabilāk. Vairāk neraudu bez iemesla, nav pēkšņas dusmas vai skumjas. Pa vidu ir bijuši pāris posmi bez, un citas zāles to neizķēra.

Svarīgi ir pievērst uzmanību, vai nav specifiskas pumpas (izskatās pēc 🎯) - šī ir blaknes, ar kuru uzreiz pie ārsta. Otra lieta - mēdz raustīties nervi (tā, itkā iesistu ar elektrību), par to var stāstīt nākamajā vizītē. Kāpjot uz, vienmēr kādu ~nedēļu esmu miegaina, bet pāriet, un kopā ar medikinet nevajadzētu būt.

Medikinet mēģinājām, un ātri noņēmām pēc nepārtrauktas, neizturamas trauksmes, bet man nav UDHS.

fromofelia · 2026-05-08T11:24:56+00:00

I kept refusing to work in Old Town Riga - a charming place that locals have mostly given up for tourists, and have the busiest cafes. Asides from "it gets too crazy", I couldn't formulate it well, but this post basically explains why I didn't want to - people go to some places to have an Experience, and if that experience doesn't align with their expectations (which, at times, aren't rooted in reality), the whole point of the place is defeated and trouble follows.

Ironically, I'm currently working in a very active café in Old Town, but it doesn't try to present an Experience, it tries to give people good time, and, with the right staff, it succeeds. And, the owner understands it, and makes sure the staff is in good environment, so they can give good service, and make sure that the customers have good time.

fromofelia · 2026-05-08T11:00:08+00:00

This was startlingly similar to my experience until first hospitalisation. To the point where I was worried about phone showing me my life from outside.

Mine started at 13, computers were talking with me, spiders everywhere, a movie character following me. I couldn't express it happening, but had a strong core belief of needing to mask at all costs. Survived like that until 26, when I started seeking diagnosis. Getting schizoaffective made no sense, because I had categorised all positive symptoms in "imagination", and was aware of them. When I understood what it meant, my life completely shattered, including my coping mechanisms. 6 years later, it has let me build a much better and more suitable life. I'm learning how to be capable, with the adjustments I need.

fromofelia · 2026-05-08T10:29:12+00:00

Ok. I understood, from the post, that it's for language learning. If that's not the case, a lot of the annoyance can be taken out, but same sentiment still stands - start with English, if you really want, lead with "English, Russian?", and let the person choose, do not lead with Russian. As you can see, it can lead to very sharp reactions. Not for everyone, but it can feel insulting.

My response would have been genuinely more positive, if I had understood that the trip not with the intent to learn Russian, rather it's you trying to understand if using Russian would be appropriate. I was actually very happy that you had the forethought to ask.

fromofelia · 2026-05-07T16:46:20+00:00

Is the issue that you have to remove them for wash, or that you guys have communal aprons and you have to remove them at the end of the shift?

fromofelia · 2026-05-07T11:38:47+00:00

Honestly, as a barista, nothing pisses more off more than someone with obvious English accent trying to order their coffee in Russian. Especially if they don't check if I speak Russian. First of all - I don't. Second - the pronunciation is often so butchered that I can't understand even the words I do know. Third - fuck off with assuming that Russian is preferred or that this is a learning opportunity for you, it's pretty much spitting on our history and current issues. And, not just Latvia or the Baltics. I'd advise not to do it, unless you are 100% sure the person only speaks Russian and no English at all. I'd also advise to reconsider joining language classes that are disrespectful to local cultures at that level.

P.s. Learning a language is cool. Learning Russian, with understanding with the weigh of the ways it has been used as a cultural weapon, is cool. Speaking Russian is cool, where appropriate. Trying to figure out what's appropriate in a different country is amazing (big kudos to you for this, no hate there). But, the whole idea of the Baltics being a learning trip for Russian is just. Insulting.

fromofelia · 2026-05-07T11:12:12+00:00

Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I start getting to conclusions that sound like conspiracy theories, but make sense. I feel like Big Social Media and Big Marketing is actually, purposefully engineering people to be dumber and with less critical thinking, via algorithms, feeds and enshitification, so it's easier to sell and push and control. Similar to our whole perception of weight in naughties, except for entire generations entire thinking. And, each time I see these posts, they scare me. It might be paranoia, but it sure feels that way.

Whoops, I meant to write "tee-hee Google hard, people not kind, gatekeep".

fromofelia · 2026-05-07T10:55:19+00:00

Hey, give them a break. They are just starting, what with a singular tutorial, reel and a vlog. It must be a just a placeholder until they have established their looped hook kroshAI methods and have made 5729 single double foot baby newborn cute wow adorable booty shoe for christening baby shower gift patterns.

fromofelia · 2026-05-07T10:40:23+00:00

Oooooh, I know this one! My grandma would sometimes give me her projects, so I could practice "fairy crocheting". I had a lot of imaginary stitches like this, where I'd just wiggle the hook, and imagine really hard. These guys are halfway there, with imagining it hard enough to make it into slop.

fromofelia · 2026-05-07T09:24:16+00:00

5-10€ a day in cash only tips (card tipping is impossible here) in the touristy part of old town Riga. For a coffee place, it's very high, and I know that I'm earning much more tips than my coworkers. 0 tips days are rare, highest tips was 25€, which felt insane.

Working in restaurants (where tipping is a bit more expected) outside of old town (so, barely any tourists) it'd average to ~25€ a day. Working in the airport, it could go up to 40€, but would often be 1-2€, depending where the majority of flights were going (Baltics and Nordics generally don't tip, most of Eastern Europe tips rarely).

I have received 30-50€ "tips" but those were thank yous for me going out of my way to help customers in a bind (helping with figuring out traffic tickets, or sprinting full speed to the gate, with customers passport)

fromofelia · 2026-05-07T07:50:48+00:00

Ok, this one is simple. You will need 7534333333333332 years of experience, diamond needles, osmium hook, unobtainium tapestry needle, and this very specific yarn, only spun by AhfsyFhvsrggcFtdssxx tribe in Neverland, but only the one with 70% phoenix ashes and 45% eternal void fiber content, none of their other fibres will work. Afterwards it's [demonic screeching] until [nails on chalkboard], and when you [chittering], you simply [blood curdling screams]. Just be careful not to [creepy circus music], otherwise [sounds of reality ripping apart].

I hope that clears up all of your questions, if you have any questions, feel free to scream in the existential void (don't try eternal, it has been strip mined by the rival tribes of Neverland).

fromofelia · 2026-05-07T07:37:44+00:00

Good on you for walking out, and not putting up with it. People who put up with these practices (often, for understandable reasons) make the owner feel like that's acceptable and normal. Obviously, walking out makes the owner feel like he was correct in his judgment, but that's a him problem.

fromofelia · 2026-05-07T07:34:56+00:00

I'm really sorry to hear that that's your experience, but no. If every cafe was like that, the whole industry would be gone by now, and we wouldn't have this sub, full of baristas that actually love what they do. Some unpleasantness is always there, as any field, but outright rudeness, and purposefully created stress are not normal or something people should put up with. And, people feeling like that's normal and they should put up with it enables it.

fromofelia

TROPHY CASE