First Day, Part One

First Day, Part One
Whew - story for the day so that I can forever remember.

I didn't go to bed until 3 AM this morning. I had a large pile of clothes and oh my God what kind of bug is that on the wall in front of me?!?!?!?!?!?

Oops. Sorry - need to concentrate.

I had a large pile of clothes that I wanted to finish washing once and for all. I also resolved to iron after taking everything out of the dryer - and it cost me precious sleep.

I wake up @ 9:30 AM and take out another load from the dryer. Fold those clothes and eat a bowl of oatmeal. Oh wow - it is now 10:30. Supposed to start training @ Starbucks by 11 AM.

Hurry and shower, shave and get clothed. Leave at 10:55.

And, oh yeah, arrive a minute early. What a beautiful feeling.

Anyhow, manager needs a photocopy of my DL and SSN card, so I drive to Kroger. I stand in line for about 20 minutes, waiting for the lady in front of me to cash in her 6 Lotto tickets for an aggregate value of $25.

God Bless the Rednecks. (Their purchasing of Lotto tickets prevents me from paying state income tax).

Anyhow, when I get to the register, he tells me to just make the copies and then come back to pay. Woohoo - glad to stand in line for nothing.

I make 3 copies, and return to the line - which has now swelled to about 6 people. Ended up staying at Kroger for thirty minutes - and paid a penny a minute for those copies. Bah.

I got back and started training - me and another girl are training for the same position - Barista. When you go to Starbucks, this is the common person that you see making coffee, cleaning or using the register.

We spend hours reading manuals and signing forms. Apparantly a "mystery shopper" that worked for Starbucks came in while we were there and gave the first bad review the store had ever received. So the manager neglected us for about 2 hours.

When she finally came out, we talked about the position and how training would go.

Training is apparantly a 9 day ordeal - tomorrow I go in and begin learning aspects of the job. Wed I got to a training workshop in downtown Arlington. I then train with the manager or shift leaders until I know coffee like a bartender knows whiskey.

Anyhow, I learned a few interesting things about my job:

1 - The store I work in just had a mass cull of workers that were apparantly not very good. Because the store prides itself as being one of the top locations in North America, they brought in a good tough manager who should whip things into shape. I enjoy this because it gives me an opportunity to work for a goal and build a new team. That appeals to me for so many reasons that I won't go into.

2 - I never tipped at Starbucks until I decided to apply there. I thought it was absurd to tip someone for standing behind a counter and pouring water over beans. I still do. I do not ask or even encourage you to tip. I think its ridiculous. However, I will welcome all tips;-). The store i will be working at is apparantly a good store where a lot of people like to pay cash. I understand that along with my $7.00 base pay, these tips can amount to $2 or even $3 more per hour. That is great!!!

3 - The environment is greatness. I was worried that I would be in a "granola" atmosphere and be forced to work with people that simply do not care. That attitude is not acceptable. Not that it will be as business like as GB, just that we are expected to perform our duties. Good - maybe the buck won't be constantly passed to me.

4 - The girl I trained with is, erm, well....read the above entry.