Got fired after eight shifts. What.
Hey, REALLY long rant. Some context: I worked at SB for two years, took another two year break, then came back to the cafe industry but on a local level.
First, I LOVED the location, the people, the pay, the hours, this seemed like such an upgrade from my previous job. The regulars were eager to learn my name and get to know me, and I also got to meet with random customers that I got along with really well. Bonded over dried fruits, weather, food, clothes, discounts, literally almost everything.
Now the absolute shitshow of it all:
First, the entire place was ran by THREE people (the owner and two managers), seven days a week, from dawn to dusk. I thought, "okay, well clearly they need the help" so I was looking forward to training, learning the loops, where I eventually would help the team out in a substantial way. Nope. They barely trained me. They only trusted me with the POS system, and even that was a mess.
Damn near everything I did was unprofessional to them:
- asking customers to repeat their order if I didn't hear them right
- asking clarifying questions
- not asking the CORRECT questions at the RIGHT time
- forgetting to remind customers about certain ingredients
- having improper form when tamping the espresso grinds
- (if I did, then I didn't do it with enough pressure, which then was ALSO not fit for standards. I don't have a problem with doing the correct form or being told I need to do more pressure, it's more so the fact that they barely let me practice)
- and even how I phrased things (instead of saying, "we cannot make that drink in that size", I HAD to say "we can only serve that drink in __ size" because the former sounded "rude").
Look, I get that there are standards and I was even open to their advice, and maybe I didn't execute their advice perfectly, but I took it into account. Some of these are valid, like informing the customers about the ingredients of certain drinks. Totally get that, I'll admit I forgot sometimes, but me asking the customer to repeat or clarify their order? A cardinal sin. Damn me for wanting to make sure the customer gets the drink they want.
For the record, I don't think I had any customers complain about getting the wrong drink with any wrong ingredients.
Also, notice how all the things they nitpicked me about were about the POS mainly? It's because I rarely ever had the chance to be on bar, even during slow hours. Zero practice, zilch, nada. I couldn't even properly explain drink items to customers because I've NEVER made a drink nor tasted it myself. I was just repeating scripts they used. I feel like for a hands-on job like being a barista, repetition is the best way to learn, but it felt like they wanted me to get it right after three tries. EIGHT SHIFTS mind you. I doubt they became coffee masters within eight shifts at the beginning of their career.
The owner and managers had gave me different expectations. After getting used to the POS system, my manager told me that I should pull shots while taking people's orders. Then, the owner said I need to focus on taking people's orders only. If I wasn't doing that, I was restocking straws, cups, lids, putting stickers on cups, and chatting with customers (the only ones who made it all worth it, tbh). At some point, I would only touch the espresso machine whenever they told me because clearly being initiative wasn't professional.
That isn't even mentioning how passive aggressive they were to me. For one instance, instead of telling me directly, they would say things like "do those cups look stocked to you?" as if saying it like that would trigger a special synapse in my brain that wouldn't have triggered had they said it nicer. I don't fucking know. That's just one example, if I had to put each interaction down, this would be a whole novel.
It also didn't help that they all spoke another language together. I mean, I get it if you are talking about confidential stuff, but I just felt even more isolated :/ Couldn't help it though.
Today was the owner's last straw I guess? They had several rushes with the owner and one of the managers doing kitchen and bar and me doing POS. Typically if the other manager was there, there would be three people working on drinks, but because I wasn't trained on how to make drinks or even something as stupid as warm up food items, I was stuck up front, putting stickers on cups while two of them ran back and forth. It looked really unfortunate but hey, if I touched the espresso machine I'd probably get yelled at.
I'm glad I'm free, woo, but I really will miss the customers and regulars that I met within a short amount of time :( I was genuinely so eager to learn new things and contribute to a team but this team was just absolutely rotten, lacked accountability, and robbed of any compassion. I do plan on visiting the local businesses that frequented the cafe because the shop owners nearby seem like genuine people and I did promise them I would support their businesses whenever I can. So far I promised to get a tattoo, get jewelry, a haircut, food, and visit an upcoming bookstore in the area LOL and I do intend on going through with it.
One day I did end up crying because I was late, spilled lid stoppers, and was asking too many clarifying questions to customers in front of my owner all within thirty minutes. But when one of the managers approached me, they said "we don't know if you'll be able to handle the other things that come with this job" and even when I insisted I was just having a bad start, they had to frame it as this sign of weakness, an inability to work in the hard, rough, dirty dirty work of being a barista. Bitch please. Being a barista is tough and maybe I don't even know half of it but let's be honest; is a customer really gonna throw a fit if I asked if they want their drink hot or iced? And is any customer going to think "wow, how unprofessional :/" if I say, "unfortunately we don't have that drink at the moment." ? This was the type of workplace where any form of expressing needs was seen as being a baby. Sorry I have needs?
If they see this, then whoops. I'm a crybaby. Wah Wah Wah. I just wanted to rant in a space that would understand me and assure me that not every local coffee shop is like this :( I've applied to a few other coffee shops so crossing my fingers they have a better team and better training protocols. It also sucks because I was starting to get into drinking espresso and willing to perfect the craft once I learned it.
tldr: worked eight shifts doing POS only with little bar/kitchen training then got fired.