A Farewell to Bux

Well, you couldn't expect THIS to be what I meant by backpacking...

I write to you, fair friends, freshly unemployed. To stand on the verge of something great, one must first take that frightening plunge from comfort and to me, leaving my job was the first step in that direction. While it is only the beginning of the tether-breaking, it's one tether that doesn't break easy. I mean on one hand, there is something rather liberating about being unemployed- I spent my first day off finally able to hang out with some friends without worrying about getting up at some ungodly hour of the morning, and I did buy a "Family-sized" bag of Doritos that's been seeing plenty of love (the kind only the unemployed can give) these last two days.

But on the other hand, I can honestly say that there are a lot of things that I am going to miss about working for Starbucks. Aside from providing me with the funding for my little adventure, it's introduced me to some pretty awesome people. For all the crap I give the "cookie cutter soccer moms ordering skinny vanilla lattes" that Menomonee Falls has to offer for a customer base, there are some real gems in the mix. And to be really, really honest, sometimes the skinny vanilla latte ordering people could be the most insightful/intelligent/interesting of all. The people who I've come to know and love seeing every day of work will all be sorely missed; if not for how much I've gotten to know them in the short windows of conversation I got to have with them, then for the meaningful things that they've told me as they waited for me to hand them off their drink. They did a great job of making an 18 year old non-college bound kid feel more like a Rockstar than a Barista.

 As great as the customers were, the people I had the privilege of calling coworkers were truly fantastic. It's one thing to love your job, but to love the people you work with? Now that's truly a great thing. Even though it seemed like we constantly had someone coming or going we always gelled together and delivered. There's just something crazily unifying about working through a customer rush, even if you're just standing there taking orders and throwing out one-liners to lighten up the mood. But the things we did, breaking cars-per-half-hour records for the district, changing people's lives by handing out a free drink or two, and of course dropping everything to have the whole store tell someone how cute their dog was... it's something I'll reminisce about when I'm at some old person home.

Yes, saying goodbye to Starbucks leaves a bittersweet taste in my mouth, because while I'll miss working there, I've got the memories and friendships from working there that I can bring with me wherever I may end up.