What I've learned my first week working at Starbucks

1. Caramel Macchado Cream is really good. It's like a caramel version of hot chocolate but without the chocolate.

2. Starbucks is nice to their employees but not so nice to the environment. I get free drinks and a meal for each shift I work. I also get full benefits at part time and my manager is going out of his way to help me work only while Madeleine is in daycare. On the other hand, everything gets wrapped individually and we don't recycle anything including boxes and milk jugs.

3. Most of the customers at my store are regulars.

4. Not all of the employees like coffee. I'm the first to never drunk any before but I have several coworkers that admit that they don't drink coffee either.

5. Starbucks is amazingly efficient. Mixing drinks is complicated and their system continuously surprises me how idiot proof it is. Cups, containers, and machines are all designed to make things as simple as possible.

6. My training is going to take 2+ weeks. They have a schedule on the wall with what I am to learn each day. The first day surprised me the most. It started with the manager telling me why he hired me and what my first impression said about me. It was really flattering. I was also told that while I'll get feed back on my training, that I'll be giving my manger feedback on my trainers so that they can learn what they need to do to work toward their next goal. 

7. Mixing drinks is hard and the science and history of coffee is pretty neat.

8. Most of my coworkers are married and my age or older.

9. Mocha syrup is just chocolate syrup. They call it mocha because it is used for primary mocha drinks and it makes the system more employee friendly.

10. The hot chocolate gets a shot of vanilla syrup and it tastes so much better without it.

11. They have a special setting for kid's drinks that is much cooler and can be drunk right away.

12. Most of the employees live pretty far from the location they are working at. Out of the 6 employees I have met, only one other one lives within 15 minute drive. My manger lives 30 minutes and another employee 45.

That's what I've learned so far. I've really enjoyed it, and I'm kind of surprised that I am. It's a pretty low stress job so far and people are nice.