Working as a barista can be stressful; they’re expected to greet customers with a smile, answer their questions, take their orders, accept their payment, serve beverages and food, and deal with entitled customers.
One barista couldn’t take this anymore during a busy workday and got to her breaking point when a woman yelled at her for not serving coffee and bagel fast enough.
TikTokor @cutzle1 posted a video a few days ago that reads, “The new generation of workers are on a different level,” which video went viral in no time and racked up over 2.9 million views and 638k likes.
The man telling the story said he was just grabbing a cup of coffee at the local coffee shop, only to end up walking into a “heated battle.”
According to him, there was a long line of 10 people waiting to get their cup of caffeine, “and we have a Karen at the counter yelling at some young lady behind it,” he said.
The woman waited 25 minutes for her coffee and bagel, and she apparently had enough, “this is ridiculous,” she yelled at the barista.
The barista then hit this woman with a too-honest response that left her at a loss of words: “ma’am, when you came in here and saw that the line was 13 people deep, what the h..l did you think was gonna happen?”
Unsurprisingly, the woman didn’t know how to react to this shocking response. The barista looked back again at her and said: “If you aren’t happy with the wait time, maybe you need to start brewing that sh..t at home.”
“I was like oh snap!” he said. “I’m like lowkey now just rooting for the cashier. I was like yeah yeah you tell her.”
The offended lady then asked to speak to the manager, who walked over and apologized for the inconvenience. And just when everyone thought this heated argument has ended, the barista lashed out at the woman in “the greatest speech I think I’ve ever heard an employee give,”
“Ma’am, I make minimum wage, I’m not doing anything extra for you cause I don’t care. I literally come to work to make this pay Chip. I understand you’re frustrated, but we’re all frustrated, I go home and cry myself to sleep, I’m not mentally okay, I deal with everyone’s bull...t all day because their coffee is or the coffee is not right. I don’t give 2 sh..ts.”
To everyone’s surprise, the barista then took off her apron, quit the job, and walked out. People at the coffee shop wanted to show their support and respect for this courageous barista who had just lost her job.
“The silence is finally broken. Someone starts to small clap, and it just gets louder, it’s like a thunderous applause,” he said. “I wanna find this barista, cause I would go to any coffee shop that she moves to.”
The video received tons of comments from people taking the side of the barista and even relating to her.
“if my anxiety wasn't so bad and the fact i need my job for the money i would quit like that girl did but sadly im not but YES GIRL GO!!” one wrote.
“I want her to know I'm ABSOLUTELY proud of her,” a second commented.
“Karen should be proud. Now she’ll have to wait twice as long for that coffee and bagel.” a third joked.
@thejordanagrace #duet with @Cutzle #fyp I need coffee from this woman! #queen ♬ original sound - Cutzle
Whether you think the long line could justify the woman's behavior, this incident only shows how small-scale irritations at the workplace can add up and force you to quit the job.
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The time to quite is when you have another job, or before you cannot stand difficult customers. I learned to greet my customers as if i had known them for years - which was easy since most of my 'peeps' wanted pretty much the same thing. Decent service, as quickly as possible! If they looked like they were unhappy or upset, explaining why it was so slow and giving them an idea of how long until they got their order, was important. hopefully others would here it, too. I have ben known to tell customers that they might want to go to our newer stores on busy holidays, It took a few seconds, and helped people feel like they had an alternative, next time. On really crazy days, before current management, we would close the lobby or put a sign on the door to tell them that their orders would be a long wait. They had the choice of leaving,
How to keep smiling in the face of an upset customer (be careful that it won't make them feel laughed at): picture them in red tutu, with a big fat cigar in their mouth or something else silly and funny. You might consider that they are in low blood sugar or had a near accident in their car if you need empathy for a customer. The point is that you need to have tools to keep from letting a customer's attitude ruining yours. If you are beginning to hate a job, start job hunting.