The Starbuckian

So i've had 5 full working days and they've been very eventful. I would have written after each day but I couldn't be bothered. And now I can't really remember the 'events'.

I started by being given a very quick tutorial for working the till which is a touch screen till with many sections for the many different things they sell in Starbucks. Initially its a bit confusing and difficult to find everything. So what happened next, well the manageress then got me to start utilising the till to serve customers. Thank god she wasn't too far away (she was making the coffees) so I could ask her where certain items were on the till. To make it worse it was quite busy that day. But I managed.

Thats not to say there weren't difficult customers. For example theres the odd fussy old lady (actually she has turned up every single day i've been there so far) who customises her coffee to the extreme which is a till user's nightmare (well shes my nightmare anyway). Thank god i'm not yet the one making her coffees. And she has her Starbucks mug so she can get her 10p off every drink. Theres also this man who comes in with massive orders (but there isn't any one else with him apart from a baby) and then, because putting everything into the till, writing down the various drink orders and getting the various food products/toasting the paninis takes time to do, he gets all impatient and slightly rude. However the other day when he came in I managed his order with no problems (and without getting any rude comments) so I was happy with myself. And there was this lady who couldn't speak english very well which is fine, but when she told me her order she didn't speak very loudly and her voice was drummed out with the sound of coffee beans being ground. So I asked if she could repeat it and leaned forwards a bit to aid my hearing. She then screamed the order at me (which I again had trouble understanding due to her not being able to speak english well). I felt the screaming was a bit unnecessary but, using my investigative skills (which translates as guessing), I managed to work out her order and she left seemingly happy.

I also have learnt how to grind the coffee beans, weighing and putting the ground coffee in a filter ready for using on the coffee machine the next day and how to prepare mocha mixtures for using the next day (I think in Frappachinos).

My other roles have been to clear up the tables after people go and clean them, sweep the floors, make sure the toilets remain clean, rinse and then put the dirty mugs and plates in the washing machine and to do all the cleaning and clearing up at the end of the day (which consists of many things). Next week I learn whats involved in the morning shifts. Its a 7am start.