Java Jaguar

My best moment as a barista: We used to have “mystery shoppers” come through the line and rate our performance as Starbucks employees. If you get a perfect score, the workers get $50. I was the subject of a mystery shop one time. I checked the schedule a week later and I fully remember the day that we were working. First of all, there were only 2 of us on the floor instead of 4. My cashier was a fairly new employee named Justin. Even though he was green, he was a good worker and a total people person. Everyone loved him. I… I was the barista. I remember that day because we were like a well-oiled machine. Between the two of us we were sailing through a crowd of customers, making jokes, being friendly, and me building perfectly crafted beverages.

We scored perfectly in EVERY category except one. In order to max out the score on wait time, they need to get their beverage in under 3 minutes. Our mystery shopper got their tall latte in 3 minutes and 10 seconds. But here’s the kicker: The shopper was the TENTH customer in line! Next time you are at a Starbucks, I challenge you to count how long it takes them to get through TEN customers. Like I said, we were like a well-oiled machine.

So, even though we didn’t get our 50 bucks… we absolutely crushed it that day. There has never been a better barista team in the history of Starbucks. Disagree? Fight me!

Uploading this strip from a Starbucks at the Vista del Mar Center in Richmond, Ca. Walked here after working as a substitute Social Studies teacher at Caliber Beta Academy, also in Richmond. Thank you Starbucks for the AC, large iced water, and free Wi-Fi. You guys are nothing like the evil Morebucks corporation….

This one here: https://goo.gl/maps/9z642zQXzmHHWCSk7