You're not getting by - you're going
July 9, 2021 12:15 PM Subscribe
A clever Starbucks partner has used white-out to creatively edit and add realism to a corporate message to staff.
Wasn't Starbucks always...famously a pretty good employer?
posted by kickingtheground at 12:21 PM on July 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by kickingtheground at 12:21 PM on July 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
Even if they are it’s still Just A Job, and if you’re an employee Doing The Job should be enough without being expected to play along with bs “you’re a member of the [HUGE CORPORATION] family”-style playacting.
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:30 PM on July 9, 2021 [85 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:30 PM on July 9, 2021 [85 favorites]
Wasn't Starbucks always...famously a pretty good employer?
Even if they're an amazing employer, the stuff about "you're not just making coffee, you're making a difference" and "it's not just a company - it's a community" is ridiculous at best and insidious at worst. It's a job. Employees should always be skeptical of corporations trying to paint themselves as family.
posted by Emily's Fist at 12:30 PM on July 9, 2021 [108 favorites]
Even if they're an amazing employer, the stuff about "you're not just making coffee, you're making a difference" and "it's not just a company - it's a community" is ridiculous at best and insidious at worst. It's a job. Employees should always be skeptical of corporations trying to paint themselves as family.
posted by Emily's Fist at 12:30 PM on July 9, 2021 [108 favorites]
Wasn't Starbucks always...famously a pretty good employer?
They offer health insurance to part-timers which is a huge deal (and offered trans-inclusive coverage, albeit shitty coverage, long before anyone started pretending to give a shit about trans people). It is, by all accounts, also an extremely hard job.
posted by hoyland at 12:32 PM on July 9, 2021 [34 favorites]
They offer health insurance to part-timers which is a huge deal (and offered trans-inclusive coverage, albeit shitty coverage, long before anyone started pretending to give a shit about trans people). It is, by all accounts, also an extremely hard job.
posted by hoyland at 12:32 PM on July 9, 2021 [34 favorites]
Under capitalism, rational actors maximize their income and minimize the costs of producing such income.
And that's why I poop on company time.
posted by suetanvil at 12:33 PM on July 9, 2021 [69 favorites]
And that's why I poop on company time.
posted by suetanvil at 12:33 PM on July 9, 2021 [69 favorites]
Wasn't Starbucks always...famously a pretty good employer?
On the one hand, they do offer good benefits to people with schedules or workloads who wouldn't otherwise be getting them elsewhere.
On the other hand, the company seems to be courting the kind of "Instagram special order" customer who makes these people's lives annoying as hell. After all, Starbucks could easily just flat-out say "no, we will not do any 'special orders' which the customer has thought up which aren't on our menu" or pass other similar company-wide policies - but they don't. So...it depends.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:39 PM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
On the one hand, they do offer good benefits to people with schedules or workloads who wouldn't otherwise be getting them elsewhere.
On the other hand, the company seems to be courting the kind of "Instagram special order" customer who makes these people's lives annoying as hell. After all, Starbucks could easily just flat-out say "no, we will not do any 'special orders' which the customer has thought up which aren't on our menu" or pass other similar company-wide policies - but they don't. So...it depends.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:39 PM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
Or they could say "These crazy special orders are good for business so we'll look at how to improve store workflows and setups so workers aren't penalized for something we want them to do" but they're not interested in that either.
posted by bleep at 12:48 PM on July 9, 2021 [30 favorites]
posted by bleep at 12:48 PM on July 9, 2021 [30 favorites]
Despite all the cynicism about corporations, isn't it true that a morning coffee is what fires productivity, innovation, and creativity across all the corporations? Handing that customer their cup of coffee is more than a just a job, it's like god breathing the breath of life into them.
posted by njohnson23 at 12:52 PM on July 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by njohnson23 at 12:52 PM on July 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
I'm a not terribly gruntled part-time(disposable) employee of a company you've probably heard of. Companies write these statements; maybe somebody believes some of it. This is not that interesting to me. A well-written response to the expectations of high productivity, product knowledge, customer sucking-up, etc. against the relatively low wages, low respect, minimal benefits would be interesting. My work helps my employer make substantial profits that result in excellent pay and benefits for top-level staff and profits for the owners. Plenty of my co-workers buy into the Ain't It Great messaging but I'm cynical.
posted by theora55 at 12:54 PM on July 9, 2021 [14 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 12:54 PM on July 9, 2021 [14 favorites]
Handing that customer their cup of coffee is more than a just a job, it's like god breathing the breath of life into them.
If that customer's breath of life is drawn from the suffering of the employee who serves it that's necromancy.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 12:56 PM on July 9, 2021 [74 favorites]
If that customer's breath of life is drawn from the suffering of the employee who serves it that's necromancy.
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 12:56 PM on July 9, 2021 [74 favorites]
David Mitchell (as usual) gets it right.
posted by Paul Slade at 1:00 PM on July 9, 2021 [27 favorites]
posted by Paul Slade at 1:00 PM on July 9, 2021 [27 favorites]
"Welcome to your job at Starbucks, the shop where you can order necromancy with cold foam and an extra caramel shot," is a way better pitch, tbh.
posted by evidenceofabsence at 1:01 PM on July 9, 2021 [10 favorites]
posted by evidenceofabsence at 1:01 PM on July 9, 2021 [10 favorites]
That original corporate pep-talk is so overblown about how wonderful it is to sell coffee drinks and baked goods to people that it pretty much begs to be mocked.
posted by TedW at 1:04 PM on July 9, 2021 [26 favorites]
posted by TedW at 1:04 PM on July 9, 2021 [26 favorites]
Unfortunately humans are social animals and our evolved social structure is the family and the tribe. Companies exploit this by pretending to be one of these things; but that is a dangerous illusion. The company can never reciprocate like a tribe or a family. However is such a compelling illusion that people running companies even fall for it. Anytime you fall for this illusion you are letting the company exploit you. Your relationship with a company needs to be transactional and based on cash on the barrel head, fee for service.
posted by interogative mood at 1:19 PM on July 9, 2021 [17 favorites]
posted by interogative mood at 1:19 PM on July 9, 2021 [17 favorites]
I agree: if you are in a peon job where you get treated like crap, why the hell should you have to pretend that you care about The Mission, or whatever? You make coffee and get yelled at by people so you can have money and survive. Isn't that your "mission?"
Also, I doubt that many people make Starbucks a career, per se.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:20 PM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
Also, I doubt that many people make Starbucks a career, per se.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:20 PM on July 9, 2021 [4 favorites]
Make this hero an honorary member of Gen X. We've been poking holes in this kind of corporate bullshit since it was pieces of flair.
posted by heyitsgogi at 1:23 PM on July 9, 2021 [33 favorites]
posted by heyitsgogi at 1:23 PM on July 9, 2021 [33 favorites]
Wasn't Starbucks always...famously a pretty good employer?
They offer health insurance to part-timers which is a huge deal (and offered trans-inclusive coverage, albeit shitty coverage, long before anyone started pretending to give a shit about trans people). It is, by all accounts, also an extremely hard job.
I worked for Starbucks c2013-2015; I know people who worked for them c1997, and also someone who worked there for ~10 years (~2004-2014). I have described it as the "best minimum wage job"* I have worked - with the notable qualifier of minimum wage.
Pros:
- it's a large corporation that is actually aware of and (in my jurisdiction) follows basic employment standard laws
- offers benefits to part-time workers
- overtime, your wage will increase (slowly but at least not minimum forever like some places)
- the local district is very good about scheduling people in advance and respecting other commitments
Cons:
- like all food & customer service work, it's way, way harder than anyone in power will acknowledge - and they do tight staffing. No overnight shifts with very little to do other than read books (like my first coffee shop job)
- quite controlling to protect their corporate image; they are pretty good re gender identity/sexuality, but rainbow hairclips were "too political"
But most of the cons are cons of the whole industry: changing schedules, stupidly hard work - it was the most cognitively taxing job that I've ever done, and that includes academic research. (I may have to think about more complex things, but I have so much more TIME to think).
Starbucks used to be a better employer and developed the careers of their lower-paid workers. They still do this in some places - I was just chatting with someone from Vietnam, and he noted that in that country, Starbucks offers substantially higher wages than other coffee shops and promotes from within. But in North America, they now hire managers from other retail businesses, rather than promoting shift supervisors (especially anyone without a degree, no matter how unrelated).
That said: Starbucks store managers are probably the worst treated employees. As a barista, I was paid little, but I also had little responsibility. Managers are expected to do much more work while on site, have full responsibility for the store, work longer hours and, in Canada, have been denied overtime pay that they should be receiving.
tl;dr: Starbucks is a land of contrasts. They aren't awesome, they aren't awful - there are way worse big companies when it comes to employee treatment. They are decent compared to other minimum-wage food service jobs, but not as good as they used to be (or as good as that person who worked for them in 1997 claimed - I didn't know them well).
*I did work minimum wage for a couple of rare book libraries and that work was better and included free coffee and/or tea breaks with cool medievalists. But both jobs were restricted to students and maxed out at about 5 hours/week, so they don't really compare.
posted by jb at 1:43 PM on July 9, 2021 [25 favorites]
They offer health insurance to part-timers which is a huge deal (and offered trans-inclusive coverage, albeit shitty coverage, long before anyone started pretending to give a shit about trans people). It is, by all accounts, also an extremely hard job.
I worked for Starbucks c2013-2015; I know people who worked for them c1997, and also someone who worked there for ~10 years (~2004-2014). I have described it as the "best minimum wage job"* I have worked - with the notable qualifier of minimum wage.
Pros:
- it's a large corporation that is actually aware of and (in my jurisdiction) follows basic employment standard laws
- offers benefits to part-time workers
- overtime, your wage will increase (slowly but at least not minimum forever like some places)
- the local district is very good about scheduling people in advance and respecting other commitments
Cons:
- like all food & customer service work, it's way, way harder than anyone in power will acknowledge - and they do tight staffing. No overnight shifts with very little to do other than read books (like my first coffee shop job)
- quite controlling to protect their corporate image; they are pretty good re gender identity/sexuality, but rainbow hairclips were "too political"
But most of the cons are cons of the whole industry: changing schedules, stupidly hard work - it was the most cognitively taxing job that I've ever done, and that includes academic research. (I may have to think about more complex things, but I have so much more TIME to think).
Starbucks used to be a better employer and developed the careers of their lower-paid workers. They still do this in some places - I was just chatting with someone from Vietnam, and he noted that in that country, Starbucks offers substantially higher wages than other coffee shops and promotes from within. But in North America, they now hire managers from other retail businesses, rather than promoting shift supervisors (especially anyone without a degree, no matter how unrelated).
That said: Starbucks store managers are probably the worst treated employees. As a barista, I was paid little, but I also had little responsibility. Managers are expected to do much more work while on site, have full responsibility for the store, work longer hours and, in Canada, have been denied overtime pay that they should be receiving.
tl;dr: Starbucks is a land of contrasts. They aren't awesome, they aren't awful - there are way worse big companies when it comes to employee treatment. They are decent compared to other minimum-wage food service jobs, but not as good as they used to be (or as good as that person who worked for them in 1997 claimed - I didn't know them well).
*I did work minimum wage for a couple of rare book libraries and that work was better and included free coffee and/or tea breaks with cool medievalists. But both jobs were restricted to students and maxed out at about 5 hours/week, so they don't really compare.
posted by jb at 1:43 PM on July 9, 2021 [25 favorites]
On the other hand, the company seems to be courting the kind of "Instagram special order" customer who makes these people's lives annoying as hell. After all, Starbucks could easily just flat-out say "no, we will not do any 'special orders' which the customer has thought up which aren't on our menu" or pass other similar company-wide policies - but they don't. So...it depends.
The store I worked at was REALLY slow (and closed shortly after), so we didn't mind these people. Also, the most complex orders would usually be from one of your fellow baristas, because they knew all the weird options.
Also: our manager let us add a banana to any free drink, and didn't make us actually put the banana in the drink. So that was nice.
posted by jb at 1:46 PM on July 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
The store I worked at was REALLY slow (and closed shortly after), so we didn't mind these people. Also, the most complex orders would usually be from one of your fellow baristas, because they knew all the weird options.
Also: our manager let us add a banana to any free drink, and didn't make us actually put the banana in the drink. So that was nice.
posted by jb at 1:46 PM on July 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
I hate Starbucks' coffee, I never go there, and I lament what they've done to the small independent coffee house which used to be and still should be the anchor points for many livable neighborhoods.
But Schultz really means that sappy stuff, and Starbucks at least used to be famous for promoting within.
posted by jamjam at 1:46 PM on July 9, 2021
But Schultz really means that sappy stuff, and Starbucks at least used to be famous for promoting within.
posted by jamjam at 1:46 PM on July 9, 2021
Unfortunately humans are social animals and our evolved social structure is the family and the tribe. Companies exploit this by pretending to be one of these things; but that is a dangerous illusion. The company can never reciprocate like a tribe or a family.
A bit of a tangent, but it was interesting to read about efforts to grant Antarctica personhood for the purposes of protecting it, an approach used elsewhere around the world to protect rivers and other ecological niches.
Maybe humanizing our relationships with inanimate objects and concepts could evolve into useful legal fictions, in some contexts. If corporations have to be people, for legal purposes, then perhaps it could be useful to readjust our relationships with them in ways similar to how we organize as human beings. That could come with all the obligations and expectations we have historically placed on (live, breathing) family members to turn them away from harmful, antisocial, and exploitative behaviors — and consequences, too.
If this is how we're wired, maybe we need to embrace our programming and turn it to our advantage.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 1:47 PM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
A bit of a tangent, but it was interesting to read about efforts to grant Antarctica personhood for the purposes of protecting it, an approach used elsewhere around the world to protect rivers and other ecological niches.
Maybe humanizing our relationships with inanimate objects and concepts could evolve into useful legal fictions, in some contexts. If corporations have to be people, for legal purposes, then perhaps it could be useful to readjust our relationships with them in ways similar to how we organize as human beings. That could come with all the obligations and expectations we have historically placed on (live, breathing) family members to turn them away from harmful, antisocial, and exploitative behaviors — and consequences, too.
If this is how we're wired, maybe we need to embrace our programming and turn it to our advantage.
posted by They sucked his brains out! at 1:47 PM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
I know where this employee is coming from. I once posted an Onion article, Starbucks to Begin Sinister Phase Two of Operation on our back room announcement board. It stayed up a surprisingly long time. Most of us did not believe in The Mission although we heard about it constantly.
Handing that customer their cup of coffee is more than a just a job, it's like god breathing the breath of life into them.
Okay sure but they're only alive after they've left your presence and finished the cup of coffee; before that they are the shambling angry undead and it's Corporate that's the God, you're the lowly novitiate trying to explain why we truly can't legally make it "extra hot" while they yell at you and remind you that they CHOOSE to worship the Starbucks Siren, they could also worship the Horned God (Caribou Coffee) half a mile over who would be more grateful to receive their offerings.
I was a Sbux barista for a year in high school circa 2002. I liked my coworkers, the work was more interesting than cashiering, the pastry delivery guy was cute. But it was also creepy (the cameras in the corners pointed at us, supposedly "for our safety" but probably to see if we were stealing from the till) and job satisfaction seemed heavily dependent on the personalities of your local management. Mine were workaholics and expected the same from us -no sick days, no time off- but I can't say if they were rewarded for that by Starbucks or if it was just their work style. I still remember the assistant manager sitting on the back room floor after getting fluids in the ER for norovirus and filling out some kind of paperwork while insisting she was FINE she just felt a little too weak to sit in a chair but yeah she was just popping in for an hour to get this done, she was washing her hands it was FINE, really. Later she'd tell me to "take a Dayquil and buck up and come in for your shift" when I was flattened by literal influenza (I did not). Rumor had it they were eventually disciplined for this kind of thing by corporate sometime after I left, which backs up that Starbucks tries to be a good place to work, but I always felt it was a performance for the public while behind the scenes they use a system that passively rewards overworking managers and less healthy stores.
posted by castlebravo at 1:50 PM on July 9, 2021 [10 favorites]
Handing that customer their cup of coffee is more than a just a job, it's like god breathing the breath of life into them.
Okay sure but they're only alive after they've left your presence and finished the cup of coffee; before that they are the shambling angry undead and it's Corporate that's the God, you're the lowly novitiate trying to explain why we truly can't legally make it "extra hot" while they yell at you and remind you that they CHOOSE to worship the Starbucks Siren, they could also worship the Horned God (Caribou Coffee) half a mile over who would be more grateful to receive their offerings.
I was a Sbux barista for a year in high school circa 2002. I liked my coworkers, the work was more interesting than cashiering, the pastry delivery guy was cute. But it was also creepy (the cameras in the corners pointed at us, supposedly "for our safety" but probably to see if we were stealing from the till) and job satisfaction seemed heavily dependent on the personalities of your local management. Mine were workaholics and expected the same from us -no sick days, no time off- but I can't say if they were rewarded for that by Starbucks or if it was just their work style. I still remember the assistant manager sitting on the back room floor after getting fluids in the ER for norovirus and filling out some kind of paperwork while insisting she was FINE she just felt a little too weak to sit in a chair but yeah she was just popping in for an hour to get this done, she was washing her hands it was FINE, really. Later she'd tell me to "take a Dayquil and buck up and come in for your shift" when I was flattened by literal influenza (I did not). Rumor had it they were eventually disciplined for this kind of thing by corporate sometime after I left, which backs up that Starbucks tries to be a good place to work, but I always felt it was a performance for the public while behind the scenes they use a system that passively rewards overworking managers and less healthy stores.
posted by castlebravo at 1:50 PM on July 9, 2021 [10 favorites]
Later she'd tell me to "take a Dayquil and buck up and come in for your shift" when I was flattened by literal influenza (I did not). Rumor had it they were eventually disciplined for this kind of thing by corporate sometime after I left, which backs up that Starbucks tries to be a good place to work, but I always felt it was a performance for the public while behind the scenes they use a system that passively rewards overworking managers and less healthy stores.
Oh yeah -- the official rules were that you weren't supposed to work sick and your manager was responsible for finding a replacement. But managers were also under serious pressure and would push for a barista to work sick or call around for a replacement themselves.
The letter and reality wasn't the same - and I blame that on the upper management who were screwing the store managers.
posted by jb at 1:55 PM on July 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
Oh yeah -- the official rules were that you weren't supposed to work sick and your manager was responsible for finding a replacement. But managers were also under serious pressure and would push for a barista to work sick or call around for a replacement themselves.
The letter and reality wasn't the same - and I blame that on the upper management who were screwing the store managers.
posted by jb at 1:55 PM on July 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
I am delighted at how little white-out was needed to make this. It really seems like the person who wrote the original actually wrote something like the whited-out version first, and then just added a bunch of "not"s to get there.
I used to be a starbucks "partner". It was exhausting.
- Clo/pening, going home at 10:30 pm , having to go back at 6:30am
- Having to stand all day
- Asking for time off and not getting it, probably out of spite
- Regional manager comes by and complains I'm not smiling enough
Sure, I had health insurance, but I only would get scheduled ~30 hours a week and I wasn't making a living wage anymore, so I had to move out of my own apartment and in with a terrible craigslist roommate. Ugh. Don't even get me started on Howard Schultz. Just thinking about it gets me all riled up.
posted by kpmcguire at 1:56 PM on July 9, 2021 [8 favorites]
I used to be a starbucks "partner". It was exhausting.
- Clo/pening, going home at 10:30 pm , having to go back at 6:30am
- Having to stand all day
- Asking for time off and not getting it, probably out of spite
- Regional manager comes by and complains I'm not smiling enough
Sure, I had health insurance, but I only would get scheduled ~30 hours a week and I wasn't making a living wage anymore, so I had to move out of my own apartment and in with a terrible craigslist roommate. Ugh. Don't even get me started on Howard Schultz. Just thinking about it gets me all riled up.
posted by kpmcguire at 1:56 PM on July 9, 2021 [8 favorites]
'Partner' is a bit weird. I doubt you get stock. And it's certainly no romance.
posted by adept256 at 2:19 PM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
“There is an art to the business of making sandwiches which it is given to few ever to find the time to explore in depth. It is a simple task, but the opportunities for satisfaction are many and profound: choosing the right bread for instance. The Sandwich Maker had spent many months in daily consultation and experiment with Grarp the baker and eventually they had between them created a loaf of exactly the consistency that was dense enough to slice thinly and neatly, while still being light, moist and having that fine nutty flavour which best enhanced the savour of roast Perfectly Normal Beast flesh. (…)If I could get into the role, do some real method acting, and become The Sandwich Maker in spirit, I think could accept being a Subway Artist. It would at least make a min wage job a little more tolerable.
The Sandwich Maker would then flip each sheet with a smooth flick of the wrist on to the beautifully proportioned lower bread slice, trim it with four deft strokes and then at last perform the magic that the children of the village so longed to gather round and watch with rapt attention and wonder. With just four more dexterous flips of the knife he would assemble the trimmings into a perfectly fitting jigsaw of pieces on top of the primary slice. For every sandwich the size and shape of the trimmings were different, but the Sandwich Maker would always effortlessly and without hesitation assemble them into a pattern which fitted perfectly. A second layer of meat and a second layer of trimmings, and the main act of creation would be accomplished.
The Sandwich Maker would pass what he had made to his assistant who would then add a few slices of newcumber and fladish and a touch of splagberry sauce, and then apply the topmost layer of bread and cut the sandwich with a fourth and altogether plainer knife. (…) There were those in the village who were happy chopping wood, those who were content carrying water, but to be the Sandwich Maker was very heaven.”
posted by adept256 at 2:19 PM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
'Partner' is a bit weird. I doubt you get stock.
Others will know for sure, but I believe my ex did have Starbucks stock acquired as a result of working there (it may have been an ESPP, I don't know). Some stock isn't going to fool anyone into thinking you're not a replaceable cog in the machine, though. (See also the only non-math sense of 'clopen' I've ever encountered.)
posted by hoyland at 2:43 PM on July 9, 2021
Others will know for sure, but I believe my ex did have Starbucks stock acquired as a result of working there (it may have been an ESPP, I don't know). Some stock isn't going to fool anyone into thinking you're not a replaceable cog in the machine, though. (See also the only non-math sense of 'clopen' I've ever encountered.)
posted by hoyland at 2:43 PM on July 9, 2021
Who writes this kind of thing? I always imagine some poor bastard scrivenering away all day fueled by the bitter cynicism of a thousand broken dreams and then returning home to kick their dog through a bush.
One hideous development I have noticed is that the aggressive positivity that Dutch Brothers coffee first implemented has been copied by Starblebucks. I used to enjoy driving through a Dutch Brothers coffee with someone who never had as it was truly remarkably over the top, the coffee might have been dishwater but the relentless youth cult mania was a sort of Authentic Tourism of retail ring the bell sales fantasticism. Now it is just tedious and strained.
posted by Pembquist at 2:45 PM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
One hideous development I have noticed is that the aggressive positivity that Dutch Brothers coffee first implemented has been copied by Starblebucks. I used to enjoy driving through a Dutch Brothers coffee with someone who never had as it was truly remarkably over the top, the coffee might have been dishwater but the relentless youth cult mania was a sort of Authentic Tourism of retail ring the bell sales fantasticism. Now it is just tedious and strained.
posted by Pembquist at 2:45 PM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
'Partner' is a bit weird. I doubt you get stock.
They do actually give out stock. I'm sure the offerings get more generous as you move up the corporate ladder, but it's still more than most companies provide.
posted by Dip Flash at 2:47 PM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
They do actually give out stock. I'm sure the offerings get more generous as you move up the corporate ladder, but it's still more than most companies provide.
posted by Dip Flash at 2:47 PM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
I was a Starbucks partner at their HQ, some time ago. They were one of the pioneers of offering full benefits to part-time employees, and used to take great pride in promoting from within. They also provided stock options and gave all of their partners a free pound of coffee per week, which many of us gave to local food banks (and were encouraged to do so). They also were very into social justice and responsibility, which probably had some serious performative benevolence attached to it. But they were on the ground providing hurricane relief, and digging wells, and whatnot way back when.
That being said, they were definitely a corporation. And a nice hierarchy is still a hierarchy. Those On Top definitely knew it and made sure the rest of us did, too. I worked in a store as part of my orientation experience, and it was exhausting, grueling, complicated work, which I am sure didn't pay enough. (Also, a customer set fire to a wastebasket, which was a moment). They have also always been very invested on this sort of forced corporate cheerfulness thing. But a lot of the leaders really do believe it.
posted by dancing_angel at 2:56 PM on July 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
That being said, they were definitely a corporation. And a nice hierarchy is still a hierarchy. Those On Top definitely knew it and made sure the rest of us did, too. I worked in a store as part of my orientation experience, and it was exhausting, grueling, complicated work, which I am sure didn't pay enough. (Also, a customer set fire to a wastebasket, which was a moment). They have also always been very invested on this sort of forced corporate cheerfulness thing. But a lot of the leaders really do believe it.
posted by dancing_angel at 2:56 PM on July 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
Whatever the actual working conditions at Starbucks are like, the company is notoriously anti-union. They are currently in an NLRB trial over firing workers for organizing and they also lobbied against the Employee Free Choice Act in 2009.
posted by Space Kat at 3:22 PM on July 9, 2021 [13 favorites]
posted by Space Kat at 3:22 PM on July 9, 2021 [13 favorites]
Make this hero an honorary member of Gen X. We've been poking holes in this kind of corporate bullshit since it was pieces of flair.
I feel like a large part of the most noteworthy Millennial iconoclasm is borrowed line for line from the disaffected, post-WWII-prosperity, quit-your-BS cynicism of Gen Xers. It's just that Millennials have more energy and broader social media options to express it.
We don't get credit for inventing the whole "Okay, Boomer" perspective, but then, we Gen-Xers are used to that sort of thing.
posted by darkstar at 3:35 PM on July 9, 2021 [17 favorites]
I feel like a large part of the most noteworthy Millennial iconoclasm is borrowed line for line from the disaffected, post-WWII-prosperity, quit-your-BS cynicism of Gen Xers. It's just that Millennials have more energy and broader social media options to express it.
We don't get credit for inventing the whole "Okay, Boomer" perspective, but then, we Gen-Xers are used to that sort of thing.
posted by darkstar at 3:35 PM on July 9, 2021 [17 favorites]
Wasn't Starbucks always...famously a pretty good employer?
Once every few years, I'll pop into a Starbucks and ask if they're serving fair trade coffee yet. Usually the answer is "what's that?". Last I heard, they were selling a single fair trade variety by the bag.
So in my opinion... not yet.
posted by aniola at 5:01 PM on July 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
Once every few years, I'll pop into a Starbucks and ask if they're serving fair trade coffee yet. Usually the answer is "what's that?". Last I heard, they were selling a single fair trade variety by the bag.
So in my opinion... not yet.
posted by aniola at 5:01 PM on July 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
@aniola - SBUX claims that they partner with farmers and provide the same/better benefits as fair trade. When I worked there, I believe that, as I got to know one of the coffee buyers, who was originally from Colombia.
I worked at HQ, and I am here to tell you that "promote from within" only goes so far. It's been a while (over a decade) since I was there, but there were department heads with executive titles who would not have gotten their job if they'd had to apply for it. They were all "promoted from within", most came up from stores, then built little fiefdoms which they jealously guarded. It was incredibly dysfunctional and Not Fun.
A few years after I left, there was a huge re-structure/re-org, and a lot of that deadwood got cleared out - who knows if it's any better.
posted by dbmcd at 5:49 PM on July 9, 2021
I worked at HQ, and I am here to tell you that "promote from within" only goes so far. It's been a while (over a decade) since I was there, but there were department heads with executive titles who would not have gotten their job if they'd had to apply for it. They were all "promoted from within", most came up from stores, then built little fiefdoms which they jealously guarded. It was incredibly dysfunctional and Not Fun.
A few years after I left, there was a huge re-structure/re-org, and a lot of that deadwood got cleared out - who knows if it's any better.
posted by dbmcd at 5:49 PM on July 9, 2021
overtime, your wage will increase
Aren’t they required to pay more for overtime?
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:46 PM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
Aren’t they required to pay more for overtime?
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:46 PM on July 9, 2021 [1 favorite]
We don't get credit for inventing the whole "Okay, Boomer" perspective, but then, we Gen-Xers are used to that sort of thing.
We weren’t even supposed to be here today.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:48 PM on July 9, 2021 [23 favorites]
We weren’t even supposed to be here today.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 6:48 PM on July 9, 2021 [23 favorites]
I truly don't get the people who drink the Kool Aid. Stockholm Syndrome? A belief that the machine will love you back? Work hard guarantees success? Power of positive thinking? I ain't got the spoons.
posted by Jacen at 7:22 PM on July 9, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by Jacen at 7:22 PM on July 9, 2021 [5 favorites]
Shhh! Stop mentioning the Invisible Generation. We prefer it that way.
posted by hippybear at 8:07 PM on July 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 8:07 PM on July 9, 2021 [6 favorites]
I feel like a large part of the most noteworthy Millennial iconoclasm is borrowed line for line from the disaffected, post-WWII-prosperity, quit-your-BS cynicism of Gen Xers. It's just that Millennials have more energy and broader social media options to express it.
Millennials grew up on stuff made for, or reacting to, Gen-X, after all. We got a lot of the cynicism of Gen-X coupled with the youthful idealism of hoping for something better from the world. Statements like this are definite corporate bullshit, but also there is an expectation from my cohort that corporations have to at least pretend to care about the world they live in.
posted by Merus at 9:54 PM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
Millennials grew up on stuff made for, or reacting to, Gen-X, after all. We got a lot of the cynicism of Gen-X coupled with the youthful idealism of hoping for something better from the world. Statements like this are definite corporate bullshit, but also there is an expectation from my cohort that corporations have to at least pretend to care about the world they live in.
posted by Merus at 9:54 PM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
Every generation thinks they invented X.
posted by biogeo at 10:32 PM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by biogeo at 10:32 PM on July 9, 2021 [2 favorites]
I certainly did my share of X.
posted by hippybear at 10:56 PM on July 9, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 10:56 PM on July 9, 2021 [8 favorites]
Unfortunately humans are social animals and our evolved social structure is the family and the tribe. Companies exploit this by pretending to be one of these things; but that is a dangerous illusion. The company can never reciprocate like a tribe or a family.
I think it's a good point but also how different is it, really? Tribes and families can also be dysfunctional or abusive to their members. The question is really whether the individuals within any of those social structures are genuinely oriented towards promoting the flourishing of their fellows, and whether the larger-than-individual systems of culture and organization composing those small societies are essentially egalitarian or exploitative in their structure. I think we can all think of families that privilege the desires of one individual over the needs of others. And while the word "tribalism" is perhaps a bit unfair to the concept of tribes generally, its negative connotation does pick up on one of the dysfunctions that tribes of people (or bands, or clans, or whatever less culturally-loaded term you can think of for small groups of humans organized around a common culture, distinct from one or more out-groups not part of the tribe) are prone to.
I don't think that companies are fundamentally different from other human collectives in the way they can exploit our psychological need to belong to something larger than ourselves and build meaning from our role in working towards a greater goal. What I think is different, is that for-profit corporations have an exploitative, anti-egalitarian structure essentially baked into their cultural DNA: the ultimate goal of a corporation is always to enrich its owner or shareholders, and any other narrative-building about purpose, culture, or relationships is necessarily only undertaken if it serves that ultimate goal. And most of us basically know this, even if we sometimes agree to pretend otherwise for the sake of getting along, which is why the Starbucks memo is so risibly hollow. It's also interesting to think about whether this fact about corporations is inevitable, any more than the abusive, patriarchal structure of the family that was constructed during the 19th and early 20th centuries and continues to be dismantled today was inevitable. An interesting counterpoint is employee-owned for-profit corporations: here the fundamental purpose of the collective is much more egalitarian by design, and narrative-building about community and purpose are maybe less hollow than they're doomed to be for an organization like Starbucks.
Just kind of thinking out loud, it was an interesting perspective that sparked a lot of thoughts.
posted by biogeo at 11:10 PM on July 9, 2021 [3 favorites]
It used to be annoying when your employer tried to make you say thanks for making them rich.
Covid turned it into making you say thanks while risking your life to make them rich.
posted by fullerine at 12:43 AM on July 10, 2021 [6 favorites]
Covid turned it into making you say thanks while risking your life to make them rich.
posted by fullerine at 12:43 AM on July 10, 2021 [6 favorites]
I've worked with marketing people who write shit like that Starbucks flyer and honestly, sincerely believe every word will inspire and motivate people. It's fucking frightening to discuss things like that with them, as they seem to honestly not understand why anyone wouldn't be transformed by such statements. I think they believe they're writing holy scripture or something.
Or, maybe they have to convince themselves that what they do has actual, beneficial meaning, instead of being cynical, corporate propaganda?
posted by Thorzdad at 5:26 AM on July 10, 2021 [6 favorites]
Or, maybe they have to convince themselves that what they do has actual, beneficial meaning, instead of being cynical, corporate propaganda?
posted by Thorzdad at 5:26 AM on July 10, 2021 [6 favorites]
Here in Chile, were customer service sounds like a nonsense made-up word, the first Starbucks, with relentlessly cheerful workers who seemed genuinely happy to see you where odd, like crossing the street and all of a sudden being in California for a few minutes.
posted by signal at 6:27 AM on July 10, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by signal at 6:27 AM on July 10, 2021 [4 favorites]
capitalism is definitely not a cult. this is all cool and normal
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:03 AM on July 10, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 7:03 AM on July 10, 2021 [3 favorites]
Knee-deep in the mocha, making coffee right / So many partners, working late at night.
From the video's description:
In February 2005, at a Starbucks Leadership Conference, this song was mimed by high up executives at the company. [...] "They were standing in front of a huge American Bandstand-esque 45 single dangling in the air," writes Cilantro. "And they all had on rock 'n' roll Halloween costumes: pink glitter wigs, white fishnet shirts, fake leather pants, as well as big fake instruments--a huge, oversized piñata guitar and keyboards. It was like a living cake decoration." From this most promising of plateaus, Jefferson Starbucks quickly ascended to the heavens, lip-synching their way through a company-specific rewrite of Jefferson Starship's "We Built This City," the 1985 anthem that made fresh headlines last year by topping an international critics' poll of the worst songs ever.
posted by Paul Slade at 8:18 AM on July 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
From the video's description:
In February 2005, at a Starbucks Leadership Conference, this song was mimed by high up executives at the company. [...] "They were standing in front of a huge American Bandstand-esque 45 single dangling in the air," writes Cilantro. "And they all had on rock 'n' roll Halloween costumes: pink glitter wigs, white fishnet shirts, fake leather pants, as well as big fake instruments--a huge, oversized piñata guitar and keyboards. It was like a living cake decoration." From this most promising of plateaus, Jefferson Starbucks quickly ascended to the heavens, lip-synching their way through a company-specific rewrite of Jefferson Starship's "We Built This City," the 1985 anthem that made fresh headlines last year by topping an international critics' poll of the worst songs ever.
posted by Paul Slade at 8:18 AM on July 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
Wasn't Starbucks always...famously a pretty good employer?
Once every few years, I'll pop into a Starbucks and ask if they're serving fair trade coffee yet. Usually the answer is "what's that?". Last I heard, they were selling a single fair trade variety by the bag.
All things being equal, sourcing coffee from fair trade suppliers would make them a more responsible corporation but not necessarily a better employer, and bugging slightly-above-minimum wage employees about corporate's choices on that front is kinda...eh.
posted by needs more cowbell at 8:21 AM on July 10, 2021 [4 favorites]
Once every few years, I'll pop into a Starbucks and ask if they're serving fair trade coffee yet. Usually the answer is "what's that?". Last I heard, they were selling a single fair trade variety by the bag.
All things being equal, sourcing coffee from fair trade suppliers would make them a more responsible corporation but not necessarily a better employer, and bugging slightly-above-minimum wage employees about corporate's choices on that front is kinda...eh.
posted by needs more cowbell at 8:21 AM on July 10, 2021 [4 favorites]
It would be bugging them if I did it every couple of days. But wandering into a different store every few years and asking a totally reasonable question is... totally reasonable.
posted by aniola at 8:38 AM on July 10, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by aniola at 8:38 AM on July 10, 2021 [3 favorites]
I've worked with marketing people who write shit like that Starbucks flyer and honestly, sincerely believe every word will inspire and motivate people.
Thank you for making me grateful for my job editing academic papers. I've often thought I could have made a lot more money in marketing, but I can't imagine being expected to put out this kind of crap day in and day out (there's bullshit in academic writing too, but it's easier for me to stomach because there's at least some believable semblance of a public good involved).
posted by FencingGal at 8:39 AM on July 10, 2021
Thank you for making me grateful for my job editing academic papers. I've often thought I could have made a lot more money in marketing, but I can't imagine being expected to put out this kind of crap day in and day out (there's bullshit in academic writing too, but it's easier for me to stomach because there's at least some believable semblance of a public good involved).
posted by FencingGal at 8:39 AM on July 10, 2021
Wasn't Starbucks always...famously a pretty good employer?
They're significantly less worse than most retail fast food. It's a good thing, but it's not a high bar.
posted by theora55 at 12:28 PM on July 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
They're significantly less worse than most retail fast food. It's a good thing, but it's not a high bar.
posted by theora55 at 12:28 PM on July 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
I've often thought I could have made a lot more money in marketing
Maybe not. I write marketing bullshit for a living and, in my case at least, it’s not much of a living. At least it’s easier than being a barista.
posted by Bella Donna at 12:48 PM on July 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
Maybe not. I write marketing bullshit for a living and, in my case at least, it’s not much of a living. At least it’s easier than being a barista.
posted by Bella Donna at 12:48 PM on July 10, 2021 [2 favorites]
I work in a white collar job, and at the employer I last worked at one of my fellow employees also worked as a waitperson in the evenings. As a result, we had more than one company Christmas party where they worked. It's clear that they personally liked their employer, but the fact that all of the employees were wearing "I love working for the company" t-shirts really weirded me out. Maybe the company treats their employees great and everyone likes working there, like my coworker clearly did. I just try to imagine me showing up on the first day of work and being told that I need to wear a t-shirt that says that I love my employer. I don't think I could handle it.
posted by Quonab at 6:53 PM on July 10, 2021
posted by Quonab at 6:53 PM on July 10, 2021
Hi I work in marketing and we know it's bullshit.
Actually, maybe oddly, our leadership didn't ask us to revamp the mission statement when they rewrote it. They did it on their own, by committee.
I can't really tell (and find it hard to believe) if c-suite types actually believe this stuff. My working theory, based on years of observation, is this: these people are the most alienated from their labor. They spend their days dealing with numbers and abstractions, but creating nothing. So mission statements (and in our company, logos) are something they glom onto as a creative, meaningful task.
It actually causes endless headaches for Marketing, as they are neither writers nor designers and don't know how to do any of it well.
I'd feel sorry for them if they weren't making so much money they could just retire and paint if they wanted to. I wish they would.
posted by emjaybee at 7:52 AM on July 11, 2021 [7 favorites]
Actually, maybe oddly, our leadership didn't ask us to revamp the mission statement when they rewrote it. They did it on their own, by committee.
I can't really tell (and find it hard to believe) if c-suite types actually believe this stuff. My working theory, based on years of observation, is this: these people are the most alienated from their labor. They spend their days dealing with numbers and abstractions, but creating nothing. So mission statements (and in our company, logos) are something they glom onto as a creative, meaningful task.
It actually causes endless headaches for Marketing, as they are neither writers nor designers and don't know how to do any of it well.
I'd feel sorry for them if they weren't making so much money they could just retire and paint if they wanted to. I wish they would.
posted by emjaybee at 7:52 AM on July 11, 2021 [7 favorites]
It would be bugging them if I did it every couple of days. But wandering into a different store every few years and asking a totally reasonable question is... totally reasonable.
This former barista says that hassling service workers about corporate policies, even once in a while, is a dick move, so don’t do it.
posted by tantrumthecat at 4:45 PM on July 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
This former barista says that hassling service workers about corporate policies, even once in a while, is a dick move, so don’t do it.
posted by tantrumthecat at 4:45 PM on July 11, 2021 [3 favorites]
Asking a simple straightforward question about their product is "hassling"?
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:49 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:49 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
Asking a simple straightforward question about their product is "hassling"?
It certainly can be, yes.
When you’re constantly being asked the same Straightforward Question™️ by different people who’ve convinced themselves that they’re the first person to think of that question, and you’re nowhere NEAR high up enough on the ladder to affect real change, then that ostensibly well-meaning inquiry is now just another workday obstacle that needs to be overcome.
Put some money in the tip jar, call or email Customer Relations, and let the barista do their thing.
posted by tantrumthecat at 5:29 PM on July 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
It certainly can be, yes.
When you’re constantly being asked the same Straightforward Question™️ by different people who’ve convinced themselves that they’re the first person to think of that question, and you’re nowhere NEAR high up enough on the ladder to affect real change, then that ostensibly well-meaning inquiry is now just another workday obstacle that needs to be overcome.
Put some money in the tip jar, call or email Customer Relations, and let the barista do their thing.
posted by tantrumthecat at 5:29 PM on July 11, 2021 [6 favorites]
Which apparently includes "not answering questions about the products they're selling".
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:27 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:27 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
Which apparently includes "not answering questions about the products they're selling".
They don’t sell fair trade coffee, though. So continually playing “Got any grapes?” is a bad look.
posted by tantrumthecat at 6:34 PM on July 11, 2021
They don’t sell fair trade coffee, though. So continually playing “Got any grapes?” is a bad look.
posted by tantrumthecat at 6:34 PM on July 11, 2021
"A different store every few years" isn't even remotely "got any grapes" territory. If a customer berates you about your company's practices, you may have a legit complaint. But directing your accumulated frustration at the one person up above, who just asked a reasonable question, doesn't seem appropriate. And now that's as much as I have to say about this topic.
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:59 PM on July 11, 2021
posted by Greg_Ace at 6:59 PM on July 11, 2021
But directing your accumulated frustration at the one person up above, who just asked a reasonable question, doesn't seem appropriate.
As I attempted to address upthread, my issue is that it’s rarely just the one person.
There’s an accumulative fatigue brought on by being asked the same question by multiple people - many of whom present that question as if they’re the first person to have that thought up that particular query - especially when it’s a question that you can’t easily or clearly answer, because the people who make decisions are several rungs up the ladder.
This is why a call or email to the appropriate people is a better use of time & resources.
Does this make sense?
posted by tantrumthecat at 7:24 PM on July 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
As I attempted to address upthread, my issue is that it’s rarely just the one person.
There’s an accumulative fatigue brought on by being asked the same question by multiple people - many of whom present that question as if they’re the first person to have that thought up that particular query - especially when it’s a question that you can’t easily or clearly answer, because the people who make decisions are several rungs up the ladder.
This is why a call or email to the appropriate people is a better use of time & resources.
Does this make sense?
posted by tantrumthecat at 7:24 PM on July 11, 2021 [4 favorites]
Mod note: Greg_Ace and tantrumthecat, feel free to take this conversation to MeFi Mail and allow space for others to participate comfortably. Please do not continue your discussion in this thread.
posted by travelingthyme (staff) at 7:28 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by travelingthyme (staff) at 7:28 PM on July 11, 2021 [1 favorite]
Are these kinds of corporate messages common in all food and retail chains, or just relatively upscale, prestigious ones? I ask because I've been a part-time employee of a somewhat prestigious chain. I always felt that a big point of these message was reminding you of the prestige, the way you could impress people by telling them you worked there and the appearance it gave of having a "real" job. And how far you potentially had to fall, in their bullshit terms.
posted by BibiRose at 5:26 AM on July 12, 2021
posted by BibiRose at 5:26 AM on July 12, 2021
the appearance it gave of having a "real" job
I'm unsure exactly what kind of job working at Starbucks is other than a real job. You do work and you get paid. Do you have something else in mind as you write this?
posted by hippybear at 5:38 AM on July 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
I'm unsure exactly what kind of job working at Starbucks is other than a real job. You do work and you get paid. Do you have something else in mind as you write this?
posted by hippybear at 5:38 AM on July 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
Are these kinds of corporate messages common in all food and retail chains
Pretty much, yes.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:09 AM on July 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
Pretty much, yes.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:09 AM on July 12, 2021 [1 favorite]
Someday we might look back on this and decide that serving Private Ryan a nonfat, iced skinny mocha with light ice, whipped cream, and chocolate drizzle was one decent thing we were able to pull out of this whole godawful shitty mess.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:39 AM on July 12, 2021
posted by kirkaracha at 10:39 AM on July 12, 2021
Oh, sure, hippybear, I think working at Starbucks-- or any retail work I have done-- is real work. What I've found objectionable in this kind of corporate propaganda is what seems to be a claim that our company is different, our work is important, in contrast to what those hourly workers at other companies are doing. This is not merely selling coffee, this is not merely running a cash register, because you're doing it for such a special company. But, you know, it's still without benefits or only very crummy ones.
posted by BibiRose at 6:50 PM on July 12, 2021
posted by BibiRose at 6:50 PM on July 12, 2021
The company I currently work for has an annual, offsite, company-wide, day-long meeting to "kick off" each year.
As you can imagine, it includes a lot of empty speechifying, C-suite circle-jerks, and mandatory "workshops" for us drones.
Last year, one of the workshops was to help craft our new mission statement.
I forget exactly how it worked, but each table was basically asked to brainstorm language to include in the final statement. So it was a committee of committees.
The process was tailor-made to produce exactly the sort of vapid corporate nothingspeak that mission statements always contain, and gave ultimate veto power to upper management - they would synthesize our ideas into the actual, final mission statement. It was all for show - to make us feel like we had a hand in steering the company, I guess.
I just sat there and blinked as the rest of my table followed these instructions, because...what the actual fuck? You might as well have asked me to bake the moon at 450F for an hour and then calculate its prime factors. It doesn't even make sense.
A couple of people at my table were SUPER pumped about it, though. Not only were they drinking the Kool-Aid - they were fucking savoring it.
I made a mental note: "okay, these are the lizard people". Short of voting for Trump, I can't think of anything that could alienate me from someone quicker. I honestly don't know if they were sincere, or just putting on an ass-kissing show for management. Either way, it was the singlr most acute feeling of fremdschämen that I've ever experienced.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 3:43 AM on July 13, 2021 [4 favorites]
As you can imagine, it includes a lot of empty speechifying, C-suite circle-jerks, and mandatory "workshops" for us drones.
Last year, one of the workshops was to help craft our new mission statement.
I forget exactly how it worked, but each table was basically asked to brainstorm language to include in the final statement. So it was a committee of committees.
The process was tailor-made to produce exactly the sort of vapid corporate nothingspeak that mission statements always contain, and gave ultimate veto power to upper management - they would synthesize our ideas into the actual, final mission statement. It was all for show - to make us feel like we had a hand in steering the company, I guess.
I just sat there and blinked as the rest of my table followed these instructions, because...what the actual fuck? You might as well have asked me to bake the moon at 450F for an hour and then calculate its prime factors. It doesn't even make sense.
A couple of people at my table were SUPER pumped about it, though. Not only were they drinking the Kool-Aid - they were fucking savoring it.
I made a mental note: "okay, these are the lizard people". Short of voting for Trump, I can't think of anything that could alienate me from someone quicker. I honestly don't know if they were sincere, or just putting on an ass-kissing show for management. Either way, it was the singlr most acute feeling of fremdschämen that I've ever experienced.
posted by escape from the potato planet at 3:43 AM on July 13, 2021 [4 favorites]
Oh hey btw Starbucks, according to Wikipedia, uses US prisoner labor.
posted by aniola at 6:05 PM on July 18, 2021
posted by aniola at 6:05 PM on July 18, 2021
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