I'm a barista at one of the several coffee shops on my campus. With this job comes the amazing perks of free coffee drinks and discounted pastries (like apple fritters, which are to die for!), but some days, the stress of customer service relations doesn't feel like its worth it. Long lines, cranky people in desperate need of caffeine, and milk steamer burns can certainly be overwhelming at times. So, here are the things my fellow baristas and I wish we could tell you.
1. Please get off the phone when you're ordering.
This just seems like common courtesy. I always try to be as friendly as possible to customers, service with a smile and all, but it's really irritating when they can't get off the phone for thirty seconds to order their coffee. It's just rude. I don't want to have to wait for you to finishing telling your BFF just how stupid her boyfriend is (and neither do the other customers.) Unless it's an emergency call, just don't be on your phone when you're about to order. You'll get your coffee faster, and we'll all be pleasant to each other.
2. It's really annoying when you use your credit card to pay for something that costs $1.50.
Perhaps this is specific to the coffee shop that I work in, but our credit card machines are incredibly slow. If your card has a chip and we have to use the chip reader it takes twice as long as a normal swipe. So, logically it would make sense to only save credit cards for bigger purchases, right? If you're just going to buy a small coffee, that won't even set you back two dollars, but you using your card will set me back two minutes. This means people get more aggravated in line because "we're taking too long."
3. Extra shots are sort of inconvenient.
Believe me, I get that sometimes there are just days when you need that extra boost of caffeine, but in the case of our coffee shop, we can't control how many shots get pulled at one time. It automatically pulls two, so when you ask for an extra shot, not only do we have to go through the process of grinding the espresso, tamping it, and pulling that extra shot, but we also waste the fourth shot we've pulled. Sometimes if we're feeling spunky we'll give out the free single shot to a customer, but most of the time it just goes down the drain.
4. Latte art is hard.
All of those Pinterest and Instagram photos of latte hearts and leaves are beautiful, and I wish I knew how to do them. My co-workers who can do latte art said it took them a long time and a lot of wasted espresso to do it. If there isn't a line, we might try to make your drink look especially nice, but during rushes that isn't our top priority. Getting you your drink that's done in a timely manner and tastes good is our main goal. We're sorry. We feel like fake baristas because of it sometimes.
5. We aren't Starbucks.
Sure, we have flavored syrup that we can use for your lattes, but chances are they won't taste like Starbucks. Unless we're a super high volume shop, there's a pretty solid chance that our selection of syrup will be limited to vanilla, chocolate, and caramel if that. Sorry, no PSL's. And no, we can't make you a Frappacino, do you see any blenders back here? *Pro Tip* Caramel Macchiatos at Starbucks are completely different from traditional macchiatos, which are just espresso shots with a dollop of foam.
6. We get just as frustrated as you do when we run out of something.
Don't you just hate when you wait in line for ten minutes and get up to the counter, order your chai latte, and discover that the shop is all out of chai? Yeah, we really hate it too. We want the customers to be able to get the drink they want just as much as they want it. Unfortunately, if our stock manager doesn't order enough for the week, there's nothing we can do about it. It sucks. It's also really annoying to explain to 50 customers that we're out of chai, over and over again.
7. Tips make our day.
Being a student and working a part time job can be overwhelming sometimes. It's nice to see that you've made someone's day enough for them to leave you a tip, even if it is just the dime left over from you handing me $2 for a $1.90 coffee. It makes you feel productive, but most of all it makes you feel appreciated and valued. Tip your baristas, kids.
8. People watching is a great unexpected perk.
There is no shortage of people on a college campus, and most of these people at some point find their way into our coffee shop. I've met a lot of people just from getting them coffee every day. You get to play a background role in people's days. Also, if you come in especially frequently, we memorize your order. There's one guy who doesn't even have to tell us he wants a double espresso anymore, we just know.
9. Baristas are people, too.
Please try not to snap at us. We promise we didn't make your drink wrong or run out of something on purpose. You yelling at us won't solve the problem any faster, it only makes both of us upset. You're not automatically better than us because you're on the opposite side of the counter. We should all try to be as kind and polite as possible.
10. We love our co-workers.
It's so great. You bond really quickly when you have to deal with a line that wraps around the store and there's only two of you on shift. A lot of us have gotten to the point where we don't have to ask who does what, we just try to be as efficient as we possibly can. We're partners in grind (get it, like coffee grinds? hehe.)
11. Most of all, we love our jobs.
Sure, it gets really hectic, especially during high traffic hours like lunch time. But at the end of the day, there's nothing quite like handing a customer a cappuccino with the perfect amount of foam, or timing steaming milk and pulling espresso shots perfectly. Also, it's really nice to see how people soften once they get their caffeine. We so feel that.
