I recently became an employee at a Dunkin' Donuts located a few miles from my new apartment. As a college student home on break who had recently lost his old summer job due to relocation I was extremely excited when the store called me about my online application and asked me when I could start. I pretty much already lived at Dunkin' and always thought that the job itself didn't look too stressful. As my first day of work quickly approached I was ready to meet my fellow coworkers, learn to make (as well as drink) endless amounts of coffee and to finally start getting some money in the bank. Despite the fact that I have only been an employee for a week I already love my job and the people I work with despite the sometimes constant stress that working at Dunkin' brings. As simple as it may look, being an employee for this company takes a lot of learning, practice and memorization. Here is a list of struggles that all new Dunkin' employees go through during their first week of employment.
1. Spending what feels like years doing online training
2. Getting the simulations wrong during this training and redoing the entire section so your manager thinks you were a barista in your previous life.
3. Trying to remember how to make every single coffee from the online training only to forget the moment you go onto the next slide (especially those on the espresso machine).
4. Accidentally tying your apron in a knot and not a bow which prevents you from being able to remove it so you have to awkwardly ask one of your new coworkers to help you out.
5. Having no idea what cup-marking is and forgetting the numbers that go along with the different sizes.
6. Figuring out what yellow, pink and blue sweetener actually is.
7. Not knowing where anything is in the back when you're trying to stock.
8. Almost breaking the Coolatta machine by making the mix with hot and not cold water.
9. Forgetting to keep up with the coffee and making customers wait while you awkwardly stand there brewing a new pot.
10. Trying to navigate the ovens to find the right sandwich setting.
11. Failing horribly during your first attempt on the espresso machine.
12. Making an iced coffee when the VDU says hot (or vice-versa).
13. Burning yourself every time you take a sandwich out of the oven.
14. Dropping a batch of fresh donuts on the ground while you're trying to restock the donut display case.
15. Getting lost in the freezer trying to find something only to realize it's in the fridge.
16. Mixing up the iced coffee and iced tea dispensers and almost give a customer who ordered coffee a thing of iced tea.
17. Not knowing the difference between a flavor shot and a flavor swirl.
18. Going on register for the first time and failing horribly (you constantly have to ask the manager for his or her pin to cancel out an item).
19. Endlessly searching for the right button on the register when a customer orders something besides a drink.
20. Messing up an order at least once a day.
21. Getting yelled at by a customer for the first time.
22. Giving a customer half creamer and half coffee when they ask for half and half when they actually mean half decaf and half original blend.
23. Guessing when a customer asks you how much a certain sized drink is and somehow getting it right.
24. Awkwardly smiling when a customer gets mad at you for how many calories are on a doughnut.
25. Feeling like having a mental breakdown during your first ever understaffed shift for a morning rush.
26. Swirling a macchiato by accident because you don't know any better.
27. Wishing there was more than one dispenser for the espresso and more than one mixer for the Coolatta machine.
28. Completely blanking during a rush and staring there holding your marker trying to remember if a medium is considered a 2, 3 or 4.
29. Forgetting what one of the regulars' order is and having to ask them.
30. Making an order with skim milk even though the VDU says whole milk.
31. Forgetting to tap out an order on the VDU so you wind up remaking it.
Despite the fact that these are only some of the struggles I have encountered my first week as an employee at Dunkin' Donuts I still love my job. I look forward to getting up every morning to serve our customers coffee and joke around with my fellow coworkers.
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