Starbucks and the Great Story
I have had my ups and downs with Starbucks. I have worked at three separate Starbucks stores in the Louisville Metro area, and generally I have had a good experience there. The hours are flexible, the pay is decent, and the people (both my fellow Baristas and my customers) are interesting folk. But when you are around a place long enough you can get burned out. And I did. It wasn’t the company that did me in. I like the company. I like the coffee. I like the perk of getting a free pound of coffee a week. I like the management. I like the environment. So what burned me out? I think it was ultimately the fact that when I ended with Starbucks I was also working part-time at UPS and travelling 45 minutes to Taylorsville twice a week for an interim youth minister position at a small church, all while going to school full time (9 hours of graduate level studies) and trying to be involved in my local church.
Wow. Just looking at that last sentence makes me tired.
I think that at the end of the day my frustration with Starbucks was not so much a frustration with Starbucks. It was a compilation of all the responsibility that I felt piled on top of me all at the same time taken out on Starbucks. I never said that I hated the company, just that I never wanted to work there again. And I didn’t. Really. I was determined.
But when you have a part-time job at a church that you love (Sojourn Community Church) and need some extra dough to take care of your family, you’re willing to do anything again. So it was with some trepidation that I turned my resume in to several Starbucks around town. I had started to give up hope when I heard back from the Starbucks in Crestwood, KY, about a 25 minute drive from my apartment. I went to interview with the store manager, feeling the heavy weight of dread at going back into the dregs of the Bucks once again. But I was determined to put on a good show. So I walked in, and began my interview with the chatty brunette who had a generous smile and magnetic personality. Her name is Rachel, and I soon found myself enjoying the conversation. The interview was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. In fact, I was getting excited at the prospect of coming to this store.
It turns out that this store, which I had mistaken as a slow store that probably got no business because it was on the outskirts of Louisville, actually vies for top numbers with the store on Shelbyville and Hurstbourne (the store at which I started my Starbucks journey and the busiest Bucks in Louisville). There are seven schools and five churches within driving distance of the store, and several of those churches host Bible studies during the week in the cafe. Wednesdays are Ambulance days, when the local force stops by and enjoys a cup of joe before duty. Thursday through Saturday mornings greet a string of cars that loop around the building and into the street as folks on their way to their destinations fuel up for the day.
In short, I found that this particular Starbucks is a community Starbucks. Many stores claim this for themselves, but Rachel claims that it is true for her store in a unique way. They know the folks who come by. Their regulars are many and varied, and she loves to hear their stories. And, to tell you the truth, I am looking forward to hearing their stories. I am interested in getting to know some of the elders of the churches that frequent the cafe. I am excited about getting to know the staff at my new Starbucks. I am ready to jump back on the drivethru and get caught in the rhythm of the morning rush.
But most of all, I’m ready to have an outlet. A way to meet friends who are not necessarily part of a church community. A way to meet people who aren’t like me. And to have the opportunity to hear their stories and to share my story with them. Because ultimately my story is a part of a much greater Story. A story that they can be a part of. Pray for me as I re-train this week and begin my new (old) job as a barista, and pray that I would be faithful in telling the Story.
