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Starbucks
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2020-11
Free drinks?
I was working at Target in Fullerton, CA while I was going to school for my bachelors degree, as the first year of covid-19 was winding down to its end. On my lunch break, I would usually grab a drink from the Starbucks located inside the store at the front. Usually working there would be a young woman around the same age as myself. Around this time of year I would get myself an iced peppermint mocha, and the first time that I got one there, I asked how much it would be, but the barista smiled behind her mask and said there was no charge. I thought this was a nice perk of the job and thought nothing of it. This became a regular thing until one day I ordered a drink with a different barista working behind the counter. He took my order and then expectantly told me how much my drink would be. I expressed my confusion, but he insisted, and I did not argue. I paid for my drink and went back to the break room. I told some of my coworkers how the barista had made me pay for my drink, and I was met with a confused "yeah... we all pay for our drinks." I probed a little more, and they all assured me that it was not a part of our job to get free drinks at the Starbucks. I smiled as I thought of the usual barista and how special she had made me feel. I was the only one who did not have to pay for my drink while she was working. Maybe that meant that she had feelings for me, or maybe she just decided to express a subtle act of kindness to me in particular. Either way, I felt deeply appreciated in a way that almost no one else made me feel during that year. In a time when strangers could almost have no meaningful interactions, with their faces almost entirely obscured by masks, this person that I didn't even know made me feel more seen than any stranger had in previous years. That peppermint mocha tasted sweeter than any of the others had because of her, even though it was the only one that hadn't been made by her. I still remember the sensation of it. -
2020
Starbucks Barista in 2020
I worked at Starbucks Coffee Company from 2019-2021. The company begging their workers to continuously go to work under awful conditions, with little regard for their safety, took a huge mental toll, not only on me, but every barista. We were told providing coffee to our community was an "Essential" job, when in all reality is was essential for us to work to ensure that company's made a profit. We had to work to pay rent and buy food because the united states government offered little support, but were not justly compensated for our work. These pictures of myself remind me how tired I was working from 3 am to 2 pm, in the middle of a pandemic, in order to be able to afford living. -
2022-04-25
A Wild Ride
In a world wide pandemic, it is important to get first hand accounts and feelings to be able to look into later. -
12/09/2020
Chontay Littlewolf Oral History, 2020/11/22
Chontay Littlewolf was raised in the Chippewa Valley in Wisconsin; she currently resides in Fargo, North Dakota. In this interview Chontay shares her experience living in North Dakota during the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as her experience as an essential worker at Starbucks during the Covid-19 pandemic. Chontay gives her perspective on how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted her communities which include her friends, family, neighbors, and Native American tribe (Ho-Chunk Nation). Chontay also discusses her thoughts on how the Covid-19 pandemic could have been handled better by everyone, ranging from individuals to governmental leaders. Chontay reflects on mental health, physical health, the economy, media and the actions of the government in this interview. -
2021-08-05
New Beginnings - Meal Vouchers for International Students
The meal voucher was made for international students coming during the first weekend of August and did not have food, nor was the cafe open for them to eat. During the summer of 2021, communication between the University Cafeteria and the Center for International Programs was complex due to changes inside the Center for International Programs. No plans were made for the incoming students coming that weekend. For that reason, the Center for International Programs had to create a meal voucher to eat at Starbucks or Chick-fil-a inside the campus. Twenty students were coming in the weekend, and the CIP team had to check them in, bring food supplies, and pick them up from the airport. -
2020-05
The Year That Never Felt Real
When COVID-19 first started spreading in the United States I remember the hysteria that spread so quickly. Not very long ago the aisles in every grocery store in America were empty of non-perishable goods, water bottles, and toilet paper. In the first Fam Bam group chat messages we were making fun of the people buying up all the water bottles, and toilet paper but when we couldn't find toilet paper literally anywhere a little bit of fear struck our household. Just as everyone else did, we began to realize the reality of the new world we were living in and the differences it would make in our lives. In the initial isolation stages I am not going to lie, there was some enjoyment. No work, mandatory social expectations, I was isolated playing my video games, reading my books, ignorant to what was going on in the rest of the world around me almost. It is unhealthy to spend days on end in your room without much social interaction outside of family, sunlight, exercise, just normal day to day life. The walls of my room felt as though they started to shrink day by day, finally when I was called back to work everything was just... different. We were wearing masks, which in my opinion was not really a big deal at all at this point I had begun to understand the reality of COVID. What I experienced from here on was not enjoyable to say the least, when we began doing things in public again everybody felt sort of tense all the time, the energy in places felt dystopic. As a Starbucks Barista we had to mandate masks to every person that came into our store, as a 24 year old working as the manager on the floor I had to deal with some brutal harassment during this time. Every time a customer came in maskless it was my job to ask them "is it okay if I get a mask for you?" if they said no, I had to ask them to take their order outside or refuse them service. Whether I agreed with the policy or not was irrelevant, I had a job to do if I wished to maintain an income so I did my job. Sometimes I would get cursed at, called communist, and just dealt with genuine harassment on a regular basis. When the governor relieved the state of their state wide mask mandate but Starbucks maintained there's it was even worse for us we were the scape goats for a mask mandate and political arguments between two sides we had no part of, the community treated us like political punching bags. To be quite honest, the transition back into society was emotionally exhausting for everyone, but I will never forget how people treated me as an employee just doing there job. At the end of it, I didn't even realize the year had past it just didn't even feel like it really happened. -
2021-10-06
Reflecting on life. Life has been hard.
It was August 25th, 2019. I had finally reached my parents’ house, all of our belongings* (all that could fit in one car*) in tow, back in my home state of New York. I didn’t want to be here – I grew up in NY, and until two years ago, never intended on coming back. I like to call it the “tectonic plates of life” moving, that moment when you feel something big on the horizon and suddenly, oh hey, here’s a big life decision you didn’t plan on having to make, have fun! Circumstances change, yeah. Life is a pretty unpredictable time warp, and global warming is such a serious issue; it was already sorta tough to not focus on the negatives before 2020. Relationship issues, financial issues, family issues – so many volumes of problems. I already felt like I had lost everything, pride included. Nothing could have prepared me for the pure stress that inevitably comes from a worldwide pandemic. Moving back into my parents’ house as a single parent in her 30’s was just about the biggest pill I could swallow that autumn. Since I had decided to work at Starbucks again, I finally made up my mind to go to college for the first time. In February, I enrolled in summer classes to start at ASU. I was hearing something about a coronavirus, but I wasn’t paying much attention to the news with taking placement tests for college in between working. In March, my daughter’s school closed, and so did Starbucks. It’s hard. It’s hard to not focus on the bad, and it’s so odd to think fondly of the not-so-bad before it. Life just feels a little bit harder. A lot bit, with the increasing violence, hatred and misinformation being spread on a daily basis. Everyone’s experiencing repercussions in one way or another; but something I cannot deny – the something I’m most grateful for: how much I’ve grown, emotionally and mentally. Maybe I can’t credit the stress from the pandemic completely, but it has certainly put all of my other stress in a different perspective. It turned my attention to world issues – I stopped being so wrapped up with myself and my own country, started learning about other cultures after starting college – falling so deeply for that education that I decided to major in Anthropology, with a Minor in Religious Studies. I watched a Ted Talk once that described the good effects of stress.. I feel as if I’m a better human, or at least, a more knowledgeable one. A lot has changed in the past two years. I started college, moved into my own place, moved back into parents’ (hi, tectonic plates!), went from being faithfully Christian to super agnostic/atheist (that was mentally difficult and I’m still processing it) and although I am quite bitter with life in general, I’m also much happier with it, and with myself. I'm a better mom for it. Life has felt like a constant challenge for years now, but I appreciate how easy it is to appreciate the simple things. I may find it annoying that everyone is more on edge, but honestly, who can blame them? Good on everyone for putting up with life! All we can do is learn and grow. And treat the planet well, guys. Let’s do that, too. -
2021-10-06
Pandemic Reflection
Last year as we all know was the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic. Funny enough, I had actually started an Epidemiology class in January 2020 of last year. It was interesting timing. For me, it was cool to learn about Covid 19 in real time, however it was also scary to learn about how much it would impact us in the incoming months. I remember telling all of my friends and family about how we should be prepared and how it might affect us. A lot of them brushed me off, but a few took my advice seriously and started to prepare for the worst. My mom, who is always the most prepared for everything, started to buy canned foods and toilet paper for our family before the toilet paper craze started. Then as the months passed, and the pandemic grew worse and worse, we started to see how everyone was reacting differently. Leaders of the old church that my family and I used to attend, started to tell the church members that they should not get the vaccine as it was only there to ‘control the masses’. Watching news on T.V. meant that there would be political fights over science. Or social media would be divided often leading to people disowning those with opposing views. Now here we are, over a year later and the divide is stronger than ever. Some religious affiliations advocating for vaccine exemption or workers going on strikes because of vaccine mandates. We are now able to look at world data and see how different countries have responded to the pandemic and how their cultural beliefs have either hindered them or helped them. As for me, life has been hard. I started the pandemic off working at Starbucks and being an essential worker, we really took the brunt of it. We were over worked and spread thin meanwhile the customers were demanding and impatient (to say the least). Out of the many reasons I left Starbucks, this was one of the main ones. Home life became almost toxic because of disagreements regarding the covid virus. Lost some friends as well. Lost some faith in religion. Preaching about loving your neighbor while also putting them in danger. Lost some faith in humanity. My distrust in the political field grew even more. Through all of this, I am grateful. Although its been hard, there are others who suffered way more than I. They suffered the loss of their loved ones or they lost their only source of income. I hope that this next coming year bring us all the relief that we have been needing. But only time will tell. -
2021-10-06
Covid-19 REL 101
I am going to start off by saying that, during the pandemic, I didn’t experience any major changes. Now this is not to belittle those whose life’s have significantly changed, but as far as my life goes, it stayed the same. Of course, I continued to follow the health regulations such as wearing a mask, staying six feet apart, maintaining cleanliness, you know the drill. Other than that, I was one of the lucky ones that could still continue to work. I am a barista at Starbucks who used to work in Colorado Springs, Colorado, but I just recently moved to Houston, Texas. During those times, even though I was just a barista, I was able to connect with people and people were able to connect with me. As little as that might sound, when we are trapped in our homes, completely separated from friends and family for a year and a half within a matter of a week, any social interaction was a blessing. I would have so many customers who would go through the drive thru, and all I can say is, I am glad I can an open ear. I am glad I can listen to people share their stories, even if it’s just about their day. There’s more to my job than to offer lattes and caramel macchiatos, we are a community of people who enjoy coffee, and enjoy each other’s company. With that being said, my contribution to the pandemic was connecting with customers in the toughest times of most of our lives. The object I used to represent my story is a green apron. It’s the apron I wear five days out of the week. It’s the apron I use to show that even at work and through all the chaos, I do my best to put a smile on someone’s face. It is my contribution to COVID-19. -
2021-10-04
Before & After
This is a quick reflection on some aspects of how life is different now due to covid-19. -
2020-02-01
Starbucks Egg Bites @ Home?
While this may be a trivial struggle, the pandemic minutely affected my morning traditions. As someone who wakes up with just enough time to get ready and run through a drive-thru before work, the closure of my go-to Starbucks caused an abrupt halt in my morning routine. I could no longer grab my morning coffee and signature egg bites or great my favorite baristas as I headed off to work. After the swift investment in an Instantpot, I read through numerous recipes in an attempt to get my mornings back to "normal." As I located a sous vide egg bite dupe for those made at Starbucks, I quickly began experimenting with numerous combinations of veggies and meats for my sunrise snack. After several attempts and failures, I eventually mastered the egg bite, and now I consider them a staple of my repertoire. While my mornings were still far from "normal" due to the numerous restrictions set because of the pandemic, a little piece of me felt the comfort that stemmed from the creation of these little egg bites and my coffee in the morning. This experience that spawned out of the events caused by the pandemic forced me to become a better cook and an ingredient-conscious one at that! I've found the kitchen to be a place of comfort and artistic expression now that I know how to appreciate my ingredients, tools, and desire to learn more about cooking! -
2020-06-15
A Tiresome Year
During this first year of Covid-19 has taken place, I can sum it up in a single word "wearisome". When this pandemic started in the year 2020, the southern part of Texas seemed to be unyielding in the hustle and bustle of everyday life down here. The attitude and lack of being a courteous person continued until about the middle of July. This was the starting point of the pandemic begging to affect people enough to begin to take notice of this "uncertain time" as if a miracle the everyday average Joe wasn't hassling me for being wearing a mask. This tale of endless misery starts at the beginning of Covid-19 and stretches until the middle of June 2020. Some background information about the antagonist of this tale is a religious youth group of about twenty would come to every Thursday and order an obnoxious amount of items all very rudely. This instance in particular struck a chord with me. This one religious group of younger children (probably about eleven to fourteen) and an older gentleman named Moshi. This group I loathed, just for the sole reason that these children would run about with no mask and caring not for social distancing, and this gentleman was pushing these children to not follow CDC protocol. Well about after a good eight months these children and a new gentleman came in all wearing masks and seemingly decent and well-mannered. This new individual had replaced Moshi and lectured this devil-children about the importance of wearing a mask and being just at least a decent human. This religious youth group had come in and sat on our patio every Thursday and seemingly never once did these children follow protocol until Joel the new instructor stressed the importance of being not a walking health hazard. I and all of my co-workers appreciate that man greatly. -
2021-04-20
Normal Life thru pandemic state
The object of my writing was to inform others my life was fairly regular throughout this lovely pandemic. It is important to me because I must stay focused on the importance of even though there are crazy things in life that happen, the silver lining, is always to focus on the positive. -
2021-04-15
Going Wild
I know the vaccine isn’t a golden ticket. I know you can still contract COVID. I know we don’t really know yet if a vaccinated person can spread it (which is why my kids are still on Distance Learning). And I know there are at least 30 countries where not one person has been vaccinated. I do know all of this. However, somewhere in my subconscious I am relaxing. I have not had a boba from 85 Degrees in 13 months and though my husband did bring home a Starbucks for me recently, that was pretty much it for the past year. Today, I somehow ended up with both. During our lunch walk, my bestie asked if I wanted to walk to Starbucks. We haven’t done that in over a year and I have to be honest, it felt amazing. Even though while we walked there, we said snarky stuff like “remember how we’re in a worldwide pandemic?” it still felt sort of normal. Then, my husband decided to pick up bread on the way home from 85 Degree and brought me a grapefruit tea with lychee jelly. My tastebuds are so happy and I’m barely asking myself if the person who made the drink has COVID. So I must be relaxing. Then again, I sprayed my boba cup with Lysol before touching it and dumped my Starbucks into a mug and reheated it before I drank it, soooo maybe not. -
2020-03-05
Quarantine Brand Reviews: Dunkin' Donuts
I did not discover Dunkin' Donuts until the summer of 2021. I was never fond of their donuts, so I never paid much attention to them. It was only until the rise of TikTok that I found out Dunkin' sold coffee as well. Although, I did hear about Dunkin' Donuts changing their name to just Dunkin'. It is safe to say that I have visited Dunkin' more during the pandemic than I ever have in my lifetime. Even pre-pandemic, I have never dined-in at Dunkin'. Dunkin's drive-thru service provides a very speedy exchange. The issue with Dunkin's is that they lack consistency. Depending on the location's training, the quality of the drink can certainly be a gamble at times. It is safe to say that speed is the priority of Dunkin' Donuts. I have never been in a line at Dunkin' Donuts. A drink can be in your hands after ordering in less than a minute. As for quality, I would say that it is very decent at its affordable price point. Dunkin is an establishment that I frequent often during the pandemic. It is less wait than Starbucks, and cheaper. The short lead times allow for an easy and quick coffee run. My friends and I love going for a sweet coffee treat. In fact, the highlight of our first pandemic summer was getting Dunkin' donuts iced coffees together and catching up. The service was quick, so we did not have to interact much with the employees. -
2021-02-03
They Make This All Worth It
It is weird to teach high school online. I usually get to know my kids by wandering around the room and making small talk. By inviting them to go running with me during 6th period (the athletic period). By running into them walking to Starbucks before an after-school review session. By leaving my room open at lunch as an alternative cafeteria. These things are not an option this year. When you teach, the jokes you make, are the kids laughing? The topics you’re really excited about sharing - are the kids excited? Are they REALLY listening when they nod at you, or are they texting their best friends out of the view of the camera, or playing a video game on a separate device? The silence is the weirdest part. Do the kids pick up on the little one liner remarks I drop in? Honestly, I get SO EXCITED when the Zoom chat lights up. It is truly my favorite part of any period because it’s like being back in class, having a real conversation, instead of me calling on students to answer and visiting them in break out rooms. They don’t like to unmute themselves to comment. Even in break out rooms they are still a bit anxious when I appear. They’re always willing to share when I call on them, so I know they’re learning the content. But I do sit up at night while I grade and wonder if the kids are actually enjoying class. I love teaching so much, and I love my kids so much, it hurts to think that this year’s kids just aren’t getting the same experience. And I am 100% in favor of staying on Distance Learning until our case rates decline, so I don’t have an agenda to re-open here. And this is why these letters I received in November are so meaningful to me. Our school ASB put out a “thank a teacher” post on Instagram, telling kids they should email a teacher and thank them. Honestly, our school has very little school spirit - ASB activities and assemblies are attended by very few students. Therefore, I didn’t think much of their social media challenge to “thank your teachers.” But then, I checked my inbox. And I became teary eyed. Honestly, I expected letters from the seniors. I was very, very close to last year’s kids. We had a great year before quarantine, and then when quarantine hit, it was like I had 180 best friends who would DM me at all hours because they were lonely, mad, sad, scared, and frustrated. And I didn’t mind because I love my kids. It’s not like I had anything else to do at 2 am the world had turned upside down. But this year’s kids have never met me in person. We don’t have the same relationship as I had with last year’s kids. So, I was so, so surprised by the number of current students, some of whose emails I have submitted (with all identifying information and names redacted) who wrote to thank me. I was hesitant to submit this at first, because I’ve never been one for public bragging, which is sort of what sharing thank you letters seems like to me. I know there are teachers who post every message a kid sends them, but I am not that person. A thank you from a kid is personal, and is something you keep but do not need to share. However, these emails are a really important part of my pandemic experience. They demonstrate to me that I have not totally failed this year. These kids who have never met me face to face, sharing such kind words, and excitement for learning history is probably the biggest personal win of this entire pandemic year. These kids will never know how much these words meant to me, and how much they motivate me to give 100%, even when we are all just within our tiny Zoom boxes. I hope with all that is within me that I can get vaccinated in time to be able to teach them in person before this year ends. They have shown over and over again this year how amazing they are, and I want to be able to be able to tell them that and thank them for that in person before the end of their junior year. -
2021-01-22
More Espresso, Less Depresso
The item that I have chosen that connects to the pandemic was a Starbucks Coffee. The reason why I decided to choose this item is that there are days that learning over zoom is quite a challenge and that it gives so much pressure on me to be able to adapt to this kind of style of learning. With coffee on my hand, I can focus on class more and it makes me more energetic. When I drink coffee during my zoom classes, I tend to be able to participate more. I love caffeine, it encourages me to also be a positive person during these times because, without any coffee, I wouldn’t be able to learn anything from a monitor screen. Coffee best represents my current experience as a junior in high school because there are days that are sad and depressing, and there are days that are happy and bright. Online learning is a cycle, wake up and learn, after that you rest. I have been doing this since MARCH. Again, this is me with coffee because without any coffee, I am really tired and not energetic. When I have my coffee, I am always feeling refreshed and active! Online learning is something that I am not used to and I fear how with the difficulty of learning online, I am not able to understand the lesson which can lead me to bad grades. Hopefully, I will be able to accomplish my goals by staying determined and dedicated to online learning, resulting in a better grade for my classes, (with coffee of course). One word to describe my 2020 year is a challenge. It’s a challenge because there are things I have been through, like losing my grandpa who sadly passed away due to a heart attack and not being able to visit him because of COVID. COVID was mainly the reason why my 2020 was a challenge because I have to figure out new ways to keep myself happy and motivating. Online classes have made me less motivated because it didn’t feel the same and that everything was quite last minute last year. I wasn’t able to keep up with lessons, which discouraged me to continue and of course my grandpa’s sudden death. As from my experiences, the various holidays looked the same for me this year. Christmas and Thanksgiving were the same because I usually hang out with my family. When I do my online classes, I usually have a workspace. Since I know for a fact I am going to sit in one place for the next 9 hours, I have my coffee next to me to keep me up, I have my water, some chapstick, a big monitor screen, my textbooks, and my journals. I also have an office chair with a pad seat cushion for me to be comfortable! Even though those were the basic items on my quarantine workspace, I like to keep things simplistic. I only have things that are essential for me to use for working online, so I am not bothered by that. The three things that I would include in my quarantine survival kit would be some energy drinks, chapstick, and a pen with a journal. The reason why I chose these items is that for the first two, I cannot do anything without them! It’s great to have a lot of energy to do tasks, and some chapstick to have my lips not chapped. I also wanted to bring a pen and journal to describe my experiences in quarantine. I would also use that journal to write down things that bother me and things that I am appreciative of. Words do mean a lot, so I love to express my feelings in a journal to remind me that overall in time, things can get better. -
2020-11-29
Starbucks COVID-19 Control Plan
This object presents Starbucks’s COVID-19 Control Plan since it is a MA requirement. It is an absolute must that we (Starbucks employees) follow these guidelines. I believe one question future historians will answer is how did the world try to stop the spread of COVID-19 in 2020? This item provides an answer to this question since it discusses hygiene protocols, social distancing, etc. The pandemic is still ongoing and we’re not sure when it will be eradicated, therefore a historian might want to compare 2020 control plans and future ones to see if plans became more efficient. It is important to wonder these questions, especially dealing with the significant duty we have: to stop of the spread of COVID-19 the best way possible. -
2020-07
Starbucks Food
With the pandemic making life much more difficult both emotionally and financially for many Americans, the company I work for, Starbucks, has made things much easier for its employees by allowing each partner to redeem one free food item each day. I very much appreciate this benefit, as it allows my coworkers and myself to have anything ranging from a breakfast sandwich to a salad, and not worry about the cost. This picture shows a friend and coworker of mine named John eating his free sandwich in a very silly pose. -
2020-05-16
A Starbucks re-opens after shelter in place
After a month and a half of paid stay at home time, a Starbucks in Junction City re-opens. The top image shows text, “Our store is temporarily closed” and the description reads “We’re here reopening the store. Come see us this Monday for your favorite Starbucks beverage. Store hours: 6am-4p.” The bottom image shows a group of baristas, wearing masks, back at work. The words pandemic, or covid-19 are nowhere to be found, trying to project a sense of normalcy. -
2020-03-23
Caffeine, Essentially
When news of the pandemic reached my area, one of my biggest concerns was whether or not I would be able to keep working. As a Starbucks employee, I wondered if what we did fell under the category of "essential worker". Sure enough, we are essential to many of the doctors, nurses, and other first responders who are truly essential in this time. Starbucks as a company immediately took precautions to be able to safely serve people who came to their establishments, as well as ensure the health of their workers. For the first two months of the pandemic, we operated as a drive-thru only store. It was truly startling to see all of the café furniture pushed to the walls, and once the sun came up it looked even more bizarre to see a quiet, empty area, where it is usually crowded and noisy. -
2020-10-16
Selling Coffee during the Plague Year
A journal of a Starbucks employee working during the pandemic. Describes the ways in which the company provided in ways adequate and not. Six weeks of paid stay-at-home that spiraled into depression, and the mounting stress from working with the public, and the pressure to open space for customers to stay in store. -
2020-10-02
Keep Calm and Coffee On
This picture was taken recently during a coffee tasting with my coworkers. I did not take the photo. I am an ASU student submitting this as part of an assignment for HST485. This photo captures a light moment during what has been a stressful time (both for customers and retail workers like myself). It demonstrates resilience and humor in the face of challenges. The photo was taken in Gaylord, Michigan on October 2, 2020. -
2020-07-14
Managing through COVID-19 #REL101
I cannot upload personal pictures from work, but I have been managing a Starbucks through COVID-19. This is an official Starbucks Partners Instagram post of some of our safety plexi-glass guards on our bars to reduce contact between our partners, and our mandatory mask policy. I have spent anywhere between 40-60 hours a week at work this whole time and so I thought it most appropriate to speak on my experience as an essential worker. In the beginning of the pandemic, we were changing rapidly and frequently, with so many conference calls I could barely keep up. I was incredibly new in my role as Store Manager, so when we shut the cafe's down across the company it made it very hard for me to create relationships with my regulars, but I got to know my baristas very quickly. My team has become very close and work together more like a family than anything else. During the lockdown portion of the pandemic, we were the only people we saw outside of our families for about three months. This whole experience has made me seek out new hobbies and really appreciate my time with my friends (when I can see them) because you never know how long it may be until you see them again. At my location, we are training our new staff in order to try to get our cafe back open soon. It has been so long now that it will be very strange for the newer staff to see people inside our building for the first time. -
2020-10-05
A barista's pandemic story of retribution.
This is a short viewpoint from a Starbucks barista in a city setting and gives an idea of some of the panic that set in initially during those few days leading up to lockdown. -
2020-10-04
#REL101
A bit of my experience living in coronavirus pandemic -
2020-08-10
Working During the Pandemic
When the whole pandemic was starting, I was currently unemployed but my store manager at Starbucks kept us posted daily on whether we will be able to serve customers again. It was always an on and off conversation because our store manager had to get the approval of many people above her on whether it will be safe to work in the area of Springfield since cases for Covd-19 was increasing by the minute. As the store opened back in May, I was able to work again but with many health restrictions between I and the customers. In the picture provided, we were not able to use our computers and machines to process payments, which dramatically dropped sales because our only means of store sales were through mobile ordering. My team were still to be determined on whether we will stay open since sales were so low and also only limited amount of parters were willing to work, due to the concern of their health. Yes I worked more hours but the anxiety of whether I will get catch the disease and also the stress of whether our store will close again really affected how I saw hope for my financial strugggles. Fast foward to current day, Virginia names stores like Starbucks an essential for everyday, which allowed our store to open to customers but with six feet restrictions, mandatory masks, and as well as checking partner temperatures daily. The tasks due everyday is a heavly load of sanitation, which in the beginning was hard to handle because we also had to serve the customers at high volumes. Covid-19 has affected not only my passion to work at the store but as well as the partners since at any moment of time we can close and become unemployed again. -
2020-08-10
Corona and Coffee
I'm a barista at Starbucks coffee company. It's been a disturbing and fascinating few months, to say the least, and like most, I've experienced some significant changes to my work and personal life. Most notably, my job is now my bubble. When the quarantine orders went out in Oregon, Starbucks kept going. I had two weeks of mandatory self-isolation after one of my work crew came into possible contact with COVID early in the pandemic. Otherwise, I've been working more than ever before. Interacting with the public makes me constantly on edge. But the coffee industry seems to have been deemed "essential," and my team and I are kept busy supporting the public's caffeine addiction through the global madness that has been 2020. Because of my hundreds of interactions with strangers daily, I've cut off almost all contact with my friends and family outside of work. The risks of my coming into contact with the virus are high, especially when not all of our customers feel inclined to comply with COVID-19 regulations. I'm happy to have my job and not have experienced the economic uncertainty that so many have dealt with in recent months. Despite the loneliness of feeling removed from my family and friends, this pandemic has brought my work team closer together. We have all experienced the pandemic the same way and become a support system for each other for which I feel lucky. -
2020-03-15
Peace in a Pandemic
I chose my work uniform because I chose to work during the peak of the virus. I got to experience everyone's viewpoint and opinion concerning the virus, and show kindness to everyone who wished to engage with the world during an unprecedented time in modern history. The experience working during the pandemic was completely different from the business and rudeness I experienced serving customers at the height of the holiday season of 2019. People were generally pleasant and seemed to care for the employees working and the other customers in or around the store. This experience made me reevaluate a lot of my priorities in life, such as family and friends, because life is short and while i'm on this earth I should do my very best to love and serve everyone who I come in contact with. -
2020-04
The Unfortunate Events
Personally, COVID-19 hasn't changed my life too much. I work at Starbucks and did online college before all of this hit. Work stayed open, we do have to wear masks, we have plexi-shields up and take extra precautions with sanitization. -
2020-03-04
Making Coffee During a Pandemic
I work at one of the local Starbucks in my city. It was around late February when I saw a notice at my store that told us due to the recent occurence of the disease that was being spread around China named COVID-19, we would not be allowing customers to use their own personal cups to prevent the spread of germs. At first, I was surprised that Starbucks made this decision since this has never happened before, but I figured they did it to be safe and also be respectful to the current situation that was occuring in another country but gaining news coverage in the United States. I wasn't quite aware about what COVID was, but rumors spread that a quarantine would occur and I remember being a little worried, but I told myself it was unlikely to happen. Later that week, it was announced by Starbucks via email that all employees would be given the option to take a paid leave of abscence if they were concerned about the spread of COVID. Almost every Starbucks in our city closed due to a lack of employees who were willing to work. My store was one of the only ones and I was one out of eight people who decided to stay and work. During this time, we began to wear masks while we worked, we had new, shorter store hours, and we had new cleaning tasks. Honestly, this time was very stressful at work. We all basically worked open to close which was from six in the morning until twelve in the afternoon. This may not seem like a lot, but we were severly understaffed and worked nonstop besides our few breaks. Customers were also either very upset with the situation or very understanding. We dealt with a lot of confrontations about our lobby doors being locked to having to wear masks. This went on for a total of forty-five days, in which, I continued to go to school online full-time. After that time period, more stores opened back up and the rest of our store's partners returned, but things didn't and still have not gone back to normal. Every day it seems that there is a new standard being added to our daily routines, such as the addition of a guard in between two baristas working on the espresso bars. Our lobby is still not open to customers, which causes a lot of unhappiness among our customers. Every day, however, we try to help our local neighbors and customers by giving them a sense of normalcy and a cup of coffee. -
2021-07-12
Letter addressed to Governor Ducey of AZ
In late July following cities across Maricopa County enacting mask ordinances, businesses started posting signage asking customers to wear masks in order to be serviced. At the Starbucks in Scottsdale at Hayden and Osborn, my coworker received this document from a customer who was asked to put on a mask in our lobby in order to have her order taken. The document expresses a belief that covid is a fictitious disease. -
2020-03-25
Starbucks in line
I was waiting in line at Starbucks, no signage available, with small pages they told us that the line starts outside. -
2020-05-24
The new normal
Shelter in place has been lifted. I decided to go inside Starbucks for the first time in months. The chairs and tables are now against the wall. There is a path marked for patrons that guide people from the door, then counter, then pick up, then exit out a different door. There is plexi-glass around the entire work area. The employees have a log-in station by the front door where they must wait until another barista comes to take their temperature before they are allowed to work (with a mask). -
05/18/2020
Hayden and Osborn Starbucks #3
A shot of the chairs and other furniture stacked up in the corner of the store as the lobby has been closed since late March. Baristas will use the leather chair on their breaks. -
05/10/2020
What I see when I'm on my break.
This image shows the way a local Starbucks responded to the pandemic. #CSUS #HIST50H -
2020-05-14
How COVID-19 Changed The Way We Served Coffee
The life of a essential Barista! -
2020-05-15
Hayden and Osborn Starbucks #2
Another image advertising Starbucks’ mobile in store pick up. Otherwise, lobby is closed. Drive thru remains open to cash and card payment. -
2020-05-10
The signs on our doors that give our costumers hope
This image depicts a way essential workers try to do their part in keeping positive during these uncertain times. One thing can be certain during the pandemic; we all need something to keep our heads up, and hopefully these signs do just that. -
05/08/2020
Hayden and Osborn Starbucks
Starbucks, which was only open for drive thru, has recently “reopened” cafe portions of their store for individuals who have mobile ordered on their phone to come in and have their order brought to them by a designated barista. Cafes are still closed otherwise. -
2020-03-10
Many People Aren't Social Distancing
I work at a Starbucks in Columbus, GA. Before the pandemic began we were already one of the busiest stores in our area, after the pandemic began it only got worse. Everyday we had lines double wrapped around our building, with people waiting 25 minutes or more. I didn't realize how "essential" we were until we were presented with situations like this on a daily basis. -
2020-04-22
#REL101 #FLATTENTHECURVE #OURNEWNORMAL
This is a picture of my self at work. During this pandemic, Starbucks, the company I work for, is requiring all employees wear face mask. We also have to take our temperature before our shift begins. -
2020-04-29
Starbucks Social Distancing at the InterContinental in Miami
Floor markers added to Starbucks to help direct customers and support social distancing during the pandemic. -
2020-04-29
Miami InterContinental Hotel Starbucks has Re-Opened!
Miami InterContinental hotel supports with social distancing by creating directional signage for their Starbucks. A new way of being a customer during the pandemic. -
2020-03-15
Starbucks Lobby Closure
This video was shot the day the major of Los Angeles, Eric Garcetti, ordered the closure of all bars, nightclubs, dine-in restaurants, entertainment venues, and gyms. As a result, we had to ask customers to leave and stack up the lobby furniture. In the video, my coworkers and I are being silly but really we were all pretty freaked out. -
2020-03-21
Starbucks Cafe Closure/Drive Thru Open
Starting on Saturday, March 21st, Starbucks closed its cafe stores until further notice. Drive thru stores also closed down their cafes, but are still open for mobile order and drive thru order. Picture is the Hayden and Osborn Starbucks location in Scottsdale, AZ.